The Return - Remixed
by xwwefanwriterx
Summary: When the Diva's division hits a new low in 2011, the entire division is shaken up by a sudden return... one that no one could have anticipated or expected, one that no one in the division knows how to deal with. Romance isn't even close to being a priority. Their priorities are mainly to keep themselves alive in the face of danger.
1. Chapter 1

This story was originally posted in 2011, and needless to say, that was a bit of a failure. However, after over a year of working with the extraordinarily talented **jcott3**, we have put together a revised and revamped, amazing, version of this story, henceforth named, "The Return - Remixed." Without **jcott3**, this wouldn't even have been possible, so I'm giving a huge shoutout and round of applause for all of their help in this process.

Now, without further ado, here is _The Return - Remixed_.

* * *

CHAPTER ONE

* * *

Michelle and Layla walked through the backstage area, rolling their eyes at the childish people who picked on them for their loss against Trish Stratus and Snooki the night before. "It's like they don't understand anything about that match. If it wasn't for us, Snooki wouldn't even be able to wrestle… Wait! She can't, anyway!"

"Exactly," Layla said with a roll of her own eyes, linking arms with her taller, blonde counterpart as they continued to the Diva's Locker Room. About halfway there, Layla tried to pick up the conversation again. "I mean, Trish being Snooki's partner was just so-"

"Hold that thought." Michelle stopped in her tracks and held up a perfectly manicured hand to stop Layla as well, both of them now standing in front of a TV screen, which was playing the live RAW broadcast.

The commentary had been going on, talking about the match that was going on later in the night, the main event, when the screen had gone to static.

After another second or two of static, the figure of a woman standing tall and straight with her arms behind her brain showed up on the screen, causing both Layla and Michelle to focus intently on the show.

The video slowly zoomed in on the woman's eyes, and when it finally got to that part of the shadow, the eyes lit up-just the eyes, so you could see nothing but them. All the while, a voice was speaking. It was heavily edited, like it was being spoken through a fan, in a deep female tone.

"The Diva's division… in such a state of disrepair that people look everywhere, trying to save it. Everywhere and anywhere. We will fix it soon."

Just as suddenly as the static had stopped Michelle and Layla in the hall, the screen was back to showing Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and Josh Mathews.

Josh's eyes showed his intrigue, and he was nodding slowly as he moved his eyes from the small screen on the commentary table up to Lawler. "Well, it looks like we just got some new Divas, doesn't it, King?"

"This is exciting! New puppies!" Lawler laughed, smiling and turning to look at Josh as well. Cole, who was being blatantly ignored, deadpanned from his place in the "Cole Mine."

"I don't understand your excitement about this. Can we get back to the real athletes, here?"

Layla scoffed after Cole's comment, and pulled Michelle a bit to get them moving once more.

They shook their heads as they walked along the hall, Michelle muttering things under her breath about the idiots on commentary.

"Well… that video was pretty weird." Layla raised her eyebrows.

Together, arm-in-arm, Lay-Cool made their way back to the Diva's locker room after a few minutes and snatched up two towels once there, dabbing the sweat that had formed after hair and makeup were finished.

"I'm just so glad we have a match Friday and not tonight."

"Real-talk, Lay."

* * *

Friday night, as Layla had mentioned they would, Lay-Cool had a match against Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly. As "Not Enough For Me" played through the arena, the crowd began a unanimous reaction of booing the girls, and loudly. Michelle and Layla waved their hands through the air, brushing off their comments and the hateful posters.

The girls headed to the ring, and Layla got up into it first. As Michelle went to climb in, she caught Michael Cole saying something about Snooki and her "fantastic WrestleMania performance." She couldn't help but obviously roll her eyes as she got into the ring.

On the screen, though their song was still playing, Snooki's back-handspring was shown in slow-motion.

"I think I just vomited in my mouth," Layla made a vomit noise before scowling with Michelle at the large screen in front of them. Michelle and Layla rid themselves of their jackets, fighting to contain the anger that Snooki had beaten them on the grandest stage of them all.

When Kelly Kelly's theme music began playing, the crowd began screaming, excitedly, and Michelle shook her head. "No, Lay. I think _I_ just vomited in my mouth."

"She's just lucky she's got Beth. Smelly Kelly's worthless without the big, bad Manazon!"

Layla and Michelle laughed as the two previously mentioned girls made their way into the ring, and then retreated from their corner, waving their hands in front of their noses and giggling as they did so.

Kelly hopped up onto the turnbuckle and smiled out at the crowd, before jumping back down, and Beth rolled over the opposite turnbuckle.

First, Lay-Cool tried to gang up on Kelly and irritate her from afar, but once they realized that it was Beth they would be wrestling, and not Kelly, they shut up and tried to decide who would be staying in the ring.

Michelle finally told Layla to stay in the ring, to which Layla's eyes teared up and she ducked out of the ring, fearing for her life, more than likely.

_Idiot_, Michelle thought, before turning around as the bell rang.

Michelle circled around Beth in the ring, before diving in for a lock-up in the center. Beth shoved her back so that she rolled to the turnbuckles, and then gave her a few shots to the face before Michelle moved out of the way, to the ropes.

Layla stood on the bottom rope, yelling in for Michelle, and then, it was almost like life was in slow-motion for her. One moment, she was shouting for her best friend, and the next, Michelle was flying toward the ropes, and Layla felt herself knocked to the ground, her face even rebounding off of the mats at ringside.

Michelle, who hadn't realized she'd hit Layla off of the apron, reached out a hand so that Layla could tag herself into the match, as she looked up into the eyes of the Diva's Champion, Beth Phoenix. When Layla didn't, Michelle looked over her shoulder, only to see that Layla was laying on the ground, holding her face.

The match continued on, only going down from there for Layla and Michelle McCool. Layla turned to get a tag a few minutes later, after getting into the match herself, and just as the two girls were about to tag, Michelle grabbed her back, releasing the tag rope and jumping to the ground.

"My back hurts! My back hurts, Lay!"

_Take that, Layla_. Michelle thought, before Kelly got a roll-up pin on Layla.

* * *

The more and more that time went on, SmackDown was the host for every bit of hatred which was growing rather dramatically between Michelle McCool and her best friend-former best friend, perhaps-Layla.

Finally, three weeks after the extremely humiliating match they had against Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix, Michelle McCool and Layla were set up to face each other at Extreme Rules… as much as both of them hated the prospect.

All of the other Divas gathered backstage around a TV screen, waiting for the match to begin, when in walked Layla, surprising all of them as she apologized for everything she'd done and said for the past few months. She said that it might be her last night, so she wanted to say she was sorry. Kelly wished her luck, but even without an explicit acceptance of her apology, Layla left the room to go fight Michelle.

Layla and Michelle's match promo began to play, and all of the Divas were silent as they watched it go, rounding up all of the strings that would be cut and tied by the end of the night.

"The following is a no-count-out, no disqualification, Loser Leaves WWE Diva's Match."

_You're not enough for me…_

Michelle entered, wearing a green, sparkling attire that she'd worn a few other times. Her blonde hair was down, and the hood on the mini-jacket she wore was up over it. The TitanTron played the girls' video, but had the original Michelle McCool color from before she had ganged up against the other Divas and started Lay-Cool, on the MiniTron.

"Making her way to the ring, Michelle McCool!"

Everyone who was on commentary for the match-Booker T, Josh Mathews, and Michael Cole-began the talk of how everyone literally had watched the breakdown of the team Lay-Cool. Michael admitted they had been the best Diva's tag team in years, and said they were flawless.

Mathews commented that it had to come down to this, as they had tried everything, including the couple's therapy they went to.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Michelle shouted as she stood on the second rope of the ring, shaking a finger in the air and fluffing her hair out before jumping down into the ring and looking to where Layla was now entering.

"And making her way to the ring, Layla!"

Her purple attire was also extremely glittery, but Layla looked all-business as she walked down the ramp to meet Michelle, her face serious as she got into the ring.

Layla went to the top rope, turning her back to Michelle as she did so, and immediately, with a ring of the bell, the match had started. It went on for about four or five minutes, with many attempted pinfalls between the girls just beating the crap out of each other, before what had been thought unthinkable, happened.

Layla went for a roll-up pin on Michelle, and the lights in the entire arena went out, excluding what lights were backstage.

"What the hell?!"

"Huh?"

"Turn on the lights!"

"Did she kick out?!"

"Who won!"

There were more grunting noises and shrieks on the accounts of Michelle and Layla for another ten or fifteen seconds, leaving them to think the match had continued, but when the lights came back on, Michelle and Layla were on opposite sides of the ring.

Both girls laid on the mat, Michelle clinging to her shoulder, curled slightly, and Layla held her leg, near one of the four corners of the ring.

A cameraman swooping around just managed to catch a group of people wearing all black, jumping the barricades and running out of the arena.

* * *

_Comment and review if you liked the story (or if you didn't like the story). Heck, if you have a question, ask it. I don't bite._


	2. Chapter 2

Honestly, in no way did I expect such a welcome back. In about a day, I got almost 100 views on my story, and 4 reviews. That's more than most of my writings get, total. Again, I'd like to thank **jcott3** for their help.

Thanks for your reviews to **Wolfgirl2013**, **cheryl24**, **wwemicky**, and **Jeri252**! At popular demand, I'm adding Chapter Two today, but the rest of the chapters will be going up on a regular schedule to be determined.

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CHAPTER TWO

* * *

The Extreme Rules disaster in Tampa was all that the WWE Universe could seem to think about all Sunday and into Monday night, when the attention shifted over to something else. Who were the people? How many were there really? Why would they attack Lay-Cool like that?

Would they show up on RAW?

The final question seemed to be echoing through the Divas backstage as well, but they weren't about to show it publicly. Instead, they stuck to themselves for the most part, avoiding anyone who could potentially be "one of them." The girl who was seemingly completely alone from the moment she walked into the arena was Beth Phoenix. She was clearly the strongest of all the Divas on the roster, and though she was backstage with the others to watch the match, she could have been the mastermind behind it.

This was the horrible reason that the girls had decided they were going to be avoiding her, including her tag team partners for the night. Especially seeing as it could have been men. Michelle and Layla hadn't been talking.

The match for the night was going to be Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim, and Beth Phoenix, going up against the team of Melina and The Bella Twins.

Finally, after being avoided for almost all of the night, the match came up on the card, and Beth cornered Kelly and Gail.

"Listen. I know that everyone thinks I'm the one behind the attack on Michelle and Layla, but why would I do that? I don't have any reason to have done something so juvenile. For all we know, it was Michelle and Layla hiring people so that they could both stay because they got over their problems before the match."

Kelly and Gail shared a look, before Kelly sighed. "Okay, Beth. We'll believe you. But right now, it doesn't matter if we believe you or not. It matters if they believe you. The WWE Universe is thinking the same thing. Show them that you have nothing to gain from attacking them. Win the match for us, Beth! Besides, Vince could just be bringing back old Divas. I mean, they said that we're only bad now. What if they're saying that they were better?"

"Kelly, you obviously don't know Vince. If it was old Divas, he'd be hyping up a storm, and they'd be everywhere on merchandize and stuff already." Gail shook her head. They hadn't noticed the approach of Melina and the twins, and the moment of consideration on the new 'arrivals'-possibly, as none of the execs had been talking, either-was interrupted by Melina's obvious distaste for details.

"Way to go, Manazon."

At the commentary table, Lawler and Josh shuffled through a few papers on their desks and then Josh began to talk. "Given the events of last night at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view, Michelle McCool and Layla are both extremely injured." Cole laughed from his place in the Cole Mine, but stopped before Josh continued on. "Layla has a torn ACL, and a torn MCL, whereas Michelle McCool has injured multiple places in her shoulder, but should be ready to return sometime in the next couple of months, if she decides that is what she wants."

The cameras shifted as the Bella Twins' theme song began to play, and Tony Chimmel began to speak as the bell rang to signal the start of a match.

"This is a Diva's tag team match, set for one fall! Introducing first the team of Melina, and Nikki and Brie, the Bella Twins!"

Melina was dressed all in black for the night, and the Bella's were, as always, matching in their gray and red outfits, and the capes with their name on the back. The girls flipped into the ring, landed, and Melina let out a deep sigh just as Kelly Kelly's theme music hit.

"Let's go, everyone!"

Kelly was chipper as ever as she led the girls out in her in her blue attire, Gail Kim just a step behind her and to her left in white and red, and Beth to Kelly's right as they entered, wearing her flame attire and carrying her Diva's Championship title over her shoulder. All of them were smiling as they entered, greeting the audience and walking to the ring to get in and start the match.

Kelly decided to start off the match against one of the twins, who the commentators couldn't recognize but who Kelly knew was Nikki.

Nikki and Brie teasingly laughed at Kelly starting off, and Nikki looked back at the blonde as she jumped and tackled the younger of the twins to the floor.

She repeatedly punched Nikki in the face until she was told to get up by the referee, and then slapped Nikki's butt as she stood up, leading her into a bulldog.

Proving nothing to Beth's point or to that of any of the other girls who had given their thoughts on the attack, the lights went out, and the Divas were in a frenzy trying to figure out what was going on. Kelly felt like she was going to cry in fear without a reason until she felt herself given one. A hand grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground. No one made a noise but the Divas who she knew already, so she couldn't say it was the people who had attacked Michelle and Layla the night before.

However, she could just tell.

All around the ring, the six girls who had been ready to fight each other were being attacked and were outnumbered as it just so happened. They kicked and screamed, tried to fight back, but were beaten down. They were limp and mostly ready to give up when the lights came back on suddenly thirty seconds after going out once again, for a moment blinding the girls who had been unlucky enough to have been looking in their direction.

Sure enough, though, they all had figured right-black ski masks, black turtlenecks, black pants, black shoes, and even black, skintight gloves stood over and around them, attacking them.

Gail, Brie, and Nikki all lay face-down on the floor, and the seven masked and disguised people around the ring-now revealed to be women, by their figures-were fighting Beth, Melina, and Kelly.

One person held Kelly, while a second person took cheap shots to them.

Beth managed to hold off the two people attacking her pretty well, and was getting in a few shots, only to be hit with a cheap shot from behind and be taken down in a double-DDT. Then, Beth was also laying across her stomach and just her front in general, unmoving except for her breathing, which was visibly unsteady.

Melina had been holding her own as well against two of the girls, and shoved one away in a sudden burst of anger. She let out a primal shriek as she grabbed the other, kicking her leg up.

Just before she could complete the Sunset Split and fall, the girl who she had pushed out of the way was not alone, and it was now three-on-one with Kelly, and four-on-one with Melina, whose leg had been taken down with a shoulder block.

Another of the girls dragged Melina across the ring and slid out to grab that same leg that Melina was favoring to slam it into the ring post.

Finally, the six girls who had been in the ring had been taken out, and had stopped fighting back, the beatings completed. The seven disguised people who had been in the ring moved out of the ring, retreating toward the backstage area.

"I'm not sure what's going on, King, but I don't think I like whatever it is…" Michael commented as the referee for the match-who had been thrown to ringside during the attack, apparently-went into the ring to begin examining the girls for medical help. "Now you see why I have the Cole Mine."

The cameras didn't focus on the men on commentary, or on the ring which was full of unconscious, writhing, or unmoving Divas. They were focused on the all-black characters who had now formed a line along the edge of the stage which connected to the ramp.

"I don't know, either, Cole, and to be honest… it's almost scary." Jerry Lawler said, ignoring Cole's comment about the Cole Mine.

"Almost?"

Josh's comment went almost unnoticed as seven black-gloved hands raised themselves into the air almost in unison, like conductors readying the orchestra, with their fists held high, in a cultlike motion. Then, seven more hands on the opposite arms of these seven figures reached up to grab the top of the ski masks they all were wearing to pull them off.

The Divas who stood at the top of the ring, who had been wearing these masks, shook out their hair, and looked directly out to the ring, moving their hair out of their faces with the free hands which had now dropped the masks, remaining indifferent. The only way to describe the look on their faces was pure evil.

"What the…"

"Is that?"

"It is, King. It is."

"Former Women's Champions Lita, Trish Stratus, Mickie James, Victoria, and Candice Michelle… joined by Ashley and Maria!" Michael was clearly astonished, as he had managed to remember who of the girls had been champions.

"What are they doing? How could they do this?!" Lawler's voice was clearly confused.

"Lita, Trish, and Victoria all retired already!" Josh added, now that Michael had gone silent.

"I just can't believe such beautiful girls could do such horrible things…" King was completely distraught now, as the girls began to move back down the ramp and toward the ring.

"Don't do it!" Cole shouted, and almost as if the girls could hear him, they started laughing, shook their heads, and moved to the barricade.

"Do you still think the Divas are boring, Cole?" Josh asked, as Lawler had now gone completely silent among them.

"Things just got very interesting very quickly in the Diva's division." Cole responded.

Road agents and medical personnel that had been called out came down the ramp and began to work on the girls in the ring as the Divas in black began to jump over the barricade and leave. Trish, the last of them, turned and blew a kiss to the men helping the Divas in the ring.

The show faded to commercial break.

* * *

_If you like the story, comment/review/favorite, and don't forget to follow to get alerts so you know when I post new chapters! _


	3. Chapter 3

Seriously, I'm so proud of this story. Thank you, all of you, who have reviewed: **Jeri252**, **cheryl24**, **GermanPrincess1990**, **Wolfgirl2013**, and **wwemicky**.

If you have questions (that aren't revealed in the story!), please feel free to ask them and I'll address them every five chapters (unless they're urgent). My inbox is always open. ^_^

Thanks have to go, again, to **jcott3** for all of the help I received in writing. Now, please enjoy chapter 3 of _The Return - Remixed_. c:

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CHAPTER THREE

* * *

The commercial break came to an end and the live show came back with a show of the recap of the attack from Kelly's bulldog to the reveal and Trish's blown kiss, obviously with a few things edited out to make it shorter. This was followed by actually live footage of Beth Phoenix and Melina being pushed on stretchers.

Melina let out cries of pain with each bump in the road or sudden movement that shook her gurney and therefore jolted her extremely injured leg further.

Opposite of this, Beth was completely unresponsive even after all this time, leading the medics to vocalize their worries that she may be put out permanently, though there was no definite yes or no to their speculation.

The medics continued to try to wake Beth up as they put her into the ambulance and the next match faded in.

Backstage, every other girl who had been backstage or who had been a part of the match, especially, sat on benches in the Diva's locker room.

They all had been given to the two medics who were left on-site, who weren't emergency personnel or helping them, and had been given Tylenol and Motrin, as well as Icy-Hot and then either hot or cold packs.

After this care had been given, and they were allowed to leave, they all went as quickly as they could away from there.

Though they disliked each other, and mostly stuck to their good-girl, bad-girl cliques, all of them had barricaded the group inside the locker room on agreement that it was the best idea for the time being.

"What the hell happened out there, you guys?" Eve found herself asking, because though she hadn't been involved in the attack, she had been backstage, watching the match for Kelly's sake, and partially for Gail's.

Kelly went to shake her head, but found that it hurt too much to even try such a simple action. "I can barely even remember what happened. I just know that I hit Nikki with the bulldog, and then the lights went out. The next thing I felt was a hand grabbing my hair. I didn't know that it was definitely them until the lights came back on."

"I thought that it was Kelly who was still on me at first, until I got my head tucked into someone's side, and felt myself get spun down to the ground. I was so dizzy, and after a couple kicks I hurt so much, that I didn't bother to move. I guess Lita was on me." Brie hugged her sister after she spoke, and they stuck to each other, eyes closed.

"I almost feel sort of bad for Melina…" Gail admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. "I mean… it wasn't fair of them to team up on her after the rest of us were down…" The girls who had been left unmoving on the mat had been informed of the full events during their time with the medics.

"What do you think happened to Beth, you guys? I couldn't tell. They were all just attacking me after you three went down, and then I saw Beth laying there when they all got out."

There wasn't time for an answer, as a knock on the door of the locker room shocked everyone into silence. The knocking continued for about a minute, before they heard a sigh, even through the door. "Girls… it's just me-John. You know who I am, all of you do. It's me and some of the other guys, we came to check up on you."

Remembering that John had once been, well, extremely close with Maria, Gail shook her head as Nikki moved to answer the knocks, and to let them in. Nikki rolled her eyes at the girl, and opened the door to let in the guys who had come to talk to them and check up on them.

Obviously, John Cena led the group of guys in, and he was followed by Christian.

"We saw what happened out there…" John began, but he obviously hadn't planned out the speech he was going to give to the girls very well, as after this beginning statement, he faded into silence, leaving the girls a little confused.

After a few seconds, Nikki responded. "Obviously you saw what happened out there. The whole world was watching us while we got our asses beaten down and then handed to us by a bunch of old ladies."

"Maria's only a year older than us, Nikki." Brie rolled her eyes at her sister's exaggeration, before she pulled her back down to hug her. Gail glared at the two of them from across the room and then rolled her eyes, deciding not to say anything for the better of the cause.

Christian let out his own sigh, inside the room this time, and put his hand on the back of his neck. "Well… yes… but we're sorry about what happened. If there was something that we could do, you know that-"

"Well, there is something…" Nikki muttered, and everyone turned to look at the older of the twins, who looked around the room before continuing. "What? I'm just saying, that if the guys really want to help us out, that they can. It isn't like we're helpless children, but with the other girls… no one really knows what to do."

"You used to be friends with Maria-you and Brie both were friends with her. You guys are really ones to talk."

"Kelly, come on. You know that she wasn't like this back then-everyone knows that. Besides, I'm pretty sure she didn't punch me in the face or kick me. She knows who I am." Nikki scoffed, as though everyone should be able to differentiate her from Brie.

"Girls!" Everyone turned to look at John, who had officially gained their attention after interrupting the miniature chick-fight. "Really. You girls don't get along, and I know that, but please. You all have to get along for now, or they will take you all apart." Almost ashamed-looking, Brie and Nikki looked at each other, and then down to their laps.

Christian, trying to brighten the mood a bit, supposedly, spoke next. "Ashley and Maria weren't that good when they were still employed by the WWE, but they're a lot better now. You need to step up your game."

Kelly looked to the boys, ignoring Nikki for the time being. "So… what's the plan, then, guys? If you even know."

"The plan is obviously going to be bodyguards," Nikki answered, butting into the conversation once again. She moved her arms so that her hands were on her hips, and smiled a bit. "We'll get anyone who will agree to help us out to lend us a hand. They won't have to come out with us if they don't want to, but they'll be waiting backstage if the girls attack."

"They can't prevent it, but they can ease the pain of it if and when it has to happen… okay, Nikki. Normally I'd never say this, but you're brilliant." Brie smiled, before watching as Eve pulled out her phone.

"So, who do we want?"

That conversation went on for a long while, the boys calling Superstars on the spot until every Diva had one Superstar on their show who would be their official bodyguard.

"Shouldn't we call Alicia? She can tell the girls to watch out on SmackDown and to make sure that they're extra cautious. I mean, that seems like that best idea."

"We can call Randy." John offered.

"Sure, that's a good, idea, but won't they have watched RAW? They'll know that they should watch their back."

Kelly laughed at Brie's comment, before grabbing her side and coughing. Then, she continued. "It's pretty cute that you think the girls on SmackDown give a damn about the girls on RAW. For the most part, that's a negative. Besides, I know for a fact that most of them. Natalya told Eve that, and-"

"And Eve told you? How cute. You all are just an inseparable bond. It's disgusting." Brie and Nikki laughed at Nikki's comment as she moved to sit back down on the bench, all of the boys standing awkwardly over the sitting girls now. "We can call to SmackDown, but I don't think they'll listen."

"It's worth a shot." Kelly said, as Eve began the call to Alicia.

* * *

_If you like the story, comment/review/favorite, and don't forget to follow to get alerts so you know when I post new chapters!_


	4. Chapter 4

A _huge_ thanks goes out to everyone who's reviewed/favorited this story, and the people who are signed up for alerts to it! Before chapter four, here's a little comment from my editor, **jcott3**.

_Hello, everyone. Good to see that so many people like this story so far. For the record, the original story wasn't quite as bad as fanwriter says it was. The basic story idea and the plot points were there. Most of what I did was two things: 1) have the story unfold over a longer time period at a slower pace so we could flesh out the characters better and 2) add a major story arc in the second half, to help the story better build to a conclusion. This story will have a little of everything - romance between the Divas and their bodyguards, action between the Divas and the returning invasion force. There will also be some comedy, some drama, some more returning stars (some for the duration, some in one-shot cameos). So sit back, enjoy the ride and keep the reviews coming._

Now, on to the chapter. c;

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR

* * *

Due to Beth seriously being injured on Monday Night RAW, the six-Diva tag team match that had originally been scheduled, last-minute, was now going to be Tamina, Maryse, and Rosa Mendes going up against Natalya, Alicia Fox, and Eve Torres. Thankfully, none of the other girls involved in the match had been on RAW and injured except for Beth, who Eve had taken the place of only the morning of SmackDown's taping.

Beth had yet to be given complete specifics about what had happened to her during the attack on Monday night, as they were continuing to do X-rays in case of other injuries during the blackout, and the initial fighting, and MRI scans to make sure that her brain was okay. The only certain thing was the concussion she had received, and just for how severe that was, she was going to be on bed rest in the hospital for the remainder of the week.

Now, standing in the designated Diva's locker room for the night in this arena, Eve had pulled Natalya and Alicia aside and was finishing up the full story of Monday's events for her audience of two. She explained everything that had gone on the previous night on RAW, and then the reveal of all who had been involved.

Neither Natalya nor Alicia knew if they were all technically rehired, or if they were just crashing the matches and then running back out of the arena. It would explain their hurried movements, and the blackouts that occurred.

"Just, keep your eyes out for any of them, you hear me? If you hear or see them anywhere, if you even hear a rumor about them being here, you have to make sure that you let the rest of the girls know as fast as you can, without getting yourself hurt. We've all got to be prepared for anything to happen tonight. Before we leave tonight, also, we have to talk to this guy to make sure that you guys all have bodyguards set up." Eve patted Randy on the shoulder, who nodded and raised his brows as he looked over at Cody Rhodes, standing on Eve's other side.

Having entered the locker room just in time to hear the end of the story, Maryse Ouellet let out a laugh quickly and sharply. "Bodyguards? No. Absolutely not, no one here needs bodyguards. I am Maryse, and I do not need a bodyguard for myself. Ha! Unlike the rest of you, I am very strong, and we are very strong." The blonde motioned between herself and her tag team partners for the night, Rosa and Tamina, who had followed her into the room.

"Let me just have a little thought back here, Maryse… I'm curious, did you ever wrestle any of the girls who came back? Oh, of course you have." Natalya stood up from her place on the bench and turned around, stepping over it and toward the now-incredulous girl standing in the doorway. "I almost forgot that Mickie beat you for the Diva's Championship. I guess that Eve forgot about that, and I almost did, but I didn't. I mean, you haven't even held it since last year. I held it less than three months ago." Maryse's face contorted into anger now, but she didn't move to attack Natalya, for the knowledge that she was outnumbered and overpowered. She also knew that Natalya wasn't finished. "I know you're angry about that, Maryse, but you have to stop and think about something for a second. Mickie has only gotten stronger since she beat you." Maryse was now indifferent instead of angry or humored, and Natalya sighed, looking to the girls over Maryse's shoulders.

Rosa and Tamina, who had listened but said and done nothing, shook their heads and moved out from behind Maryse to sit on a bench and continue to listen.

Eve stepped up to the plate against Maryse next, relieving Natalya of her duties while still trying to instill the fear Natalya had planted into Maryse, and surely into Rosa and Tamina. "Yes, Maryse. We are all very strong, you got that right. We're all strong, independent women-but they are all stronger, and they haven't been here in a very long time. They're even more independent than all of us in this room combined together. They know more about fighting dirty and getting away with it than anyone else in…" She turned around, looked at Randy and Cody, and then turned back to Maryse. "Than any other woman in this room. We have reasons to be afraid of them-you can't just shrug it off like it's nothing and flip your hair and hope they won't attack you next."

"I know that I'm not the best girl on the roster." Rosa finally spoke up, and everyone turned to look at her, surprised that she would. "I know that, but even I just can't make myself be afraid of the girls who've come back. If I'm afraid of them, then that means I have to admit that I just don't belong here, wrestling or otherwise."

"Rosa, that's not true."

"I'm horrible."

Eve sighed, wishing she could turn this conversation back the way it had come. "Well, sure. Maybe you're horrible sometimes. But if you are, then you just have to be good at being bad, and then that can be your strong suit here."

"I'm not sure if that's an insult or a compliment… but I guess I have no choice but to bodyguard myself. Tamina?"

Tamina looked up at the girls in the room and sighed. "You know what, I'm strong. I am beautiful. I am smart, and I am Samoan, and I am supposed to be a powerhouse on top of all of that… but I'm going to take bodyguards, because I have respect for myself and I'm not ashamed of being a little bit afraid of these girls." Eve and Natalya smiled at Tamina, before looking back over to Maryse.

The French Canadian girl was looking off into space, and when she saw that they were looking at her, she was clearly surprised. "Wait, what?" Everyone in the room was looking at her by now, and she let out a huge, weight-of-the-world sigh, before rolling her eyes. "Well, fine. Since it appears that I have absolutely no other choice than to take some idiotic bodyguard, just sign me up for Ted and I suppose I'll have to be fine with it."

* * *

The match started off just as normally as any other match did. The girls had pissed each other off between the locker room and the ring, as they normally did, and now they were beyond ready to tear each other to pieces.

Even through their anger, they were all on guard when they weren't in the ring, fighting-they knew the girls would be back tonight, or they were at least pretty damn sure-but other than that, they were going to be ripping the other girls to shreds.

Natalya locked the Sharpshooter in on Rosa, and the tension seemed to immediately have been cut in half. The air seemed a lot thinner as Rosa tapped out, crying for Natalya to let go of her, and easier to breathe in, and after celebrating the win for a short period outside of the ring, they grabbed each other's hands, raising them into the air and putting them back down.

Before the celebration could continue, out of nowhere jumped Trish Stratus, from the barricade between the crowd and the aisle, grabbing Natalya as she hit the top of her jump and fell down to hit her with a bulldog and bringing her to the ground.

Seconds later, if that, Lita jumped from the opposite barricade to grab the scared-and-confused Alicia Fox and hit her with a Lita-can-rana. Eve was slowly backing away from where Trish and Lita were looking at her, and just as Rosa, in the ring, was motioning for her to run away, she felt a hard blow to her back and fell to the ramp, rolling down to where her friends were and trying to catch her breath back.

Everyone in the ring had stood up or, in Rosa's case, gotten up onto their knees in the ring, until they heard them coming, and turned around just a second too late. Victoria kicked up her foot and connected the bottom of her boot to Tamina's face, throwing her down to the ground and lunging for her, Candice right behind her.

Maria grabbed Maryse by her long, blonde hair and pulled her in to clothesline her to the ground, jumping up onto the top rope to cross-body her as she got back up, before beginning to beat her as senseless as she could.

Rosa, the final girl of the group, was grabbed by Mickie and pulled to her feet, before getting a Mickie-DT through to her and moving to Maryse, who was fighting back against Maria.

Outside of the ring and inside, the chaos continued on. Trish took over on Alicia after Natalya was down, while Lita and Ashley moved on to Eve. Victoria connected an Implant Buster to Tamina. Ashley hit Eve with a backbreaker to her knee and then held her while Lita climbed back up onto the barricade to hit her with a flying leg drop.

Ashley, standing from where she had been holding Eve, spotted the group of men coming through the curtain first, and then screamed, "Get out of here!" to Lita and Trish, running up and into the ring. Tyson, the Usos, Randy, Chris Masters, Christian, and Ted DiBiase stopped at Eve, Alicia, and Natalya, while the girls in the ring were thrown out and to the ground.

From there, Lita walked over to the corner nearest the timekeeper and demanded a microphone. The guys outside obviously were too busy tending to the girls, especially the Usos, who were holding up Tamina as she cried in pain.

"Give me a microphone already, God damn it!" Lita shouted when they were all taking too long, and the timekeeper quickened the pace to finish her wishes. She moved to stand in the center of the ring, flanked by Trish, Candice, and Maria on one side, Victoria, Mickie, and Ashley on the other.

"Now then… before I take the time out of my day and yours to introduce myself to all of you lovely people, as well as to my fellow reinstated Divas…" Lita aimed the word almost poisonously at the Divas standing outside, as well as to the men who had come down as assistance, before turning back to the crowd. "I'm going to ask you a few questions. Obviously nothing about rocket science, but just a few questions for your…" She squinted a bit and looked out into the crowd before turning to Trish and raising her brows. "Adorable children." The girls laughed, and the short introduction was finished. "Please, I'm going to ask for only the children to be answering."

A pause followed there as everyone in the crowd shuffled awkwardly about, before the redhead front and center spoke once again. "If you are under the age of fourteen, and you know who I am, I'd like you to give me a quick cheer. Or, hell, why not just boo for me-I'm used to it, and I sort of miss it!"

There was a fairly awkward silence that spread through the arena before Lita put the microphone to her mouth and screamed angrily, "Let me hear you, damn it!" into it.

A group of probably a thousand-out of the thousands in attendance, Lita found this to be an extremely pathetic number-kids let out a shout, and the older Divas in the ring started to laugh. Lita shot a glare to both sides to shut them up, while the current Divas stood outside of the ring in awe and silence, while the "reinstatement" of the other Divas sunk into their minds.

Immediately after the crowd had silenced itself, and Lita had soothed a bit of her anger at their ignorance, Lita reached out a hand toward the Divas to her left and right, and into the crowd of girls outside of the ring. "How many of you remember the Diva searches that humiliated women? The likes of Christy Hemme, Michelle McCool, Layla, Kristal, Rosa Mendes, Maryse, Eve Torres, Tiffany… I could go on but I won't because I want to hear you shout if you remember them!"

Probably the better part of the teens and kids in the crowd, a little more than half of them, let out a shout, before Lita turned around and looked at the crowd behind her and at the Divas who were around her. Though she had mentioned three of them as contestants, she showed no anger or resentment for them. She pivoted on her heels and looked out once again to continue.

"Finally, I want to shed some light on a situation that has been kept in the dark for too long." The girls around Lita nodded in agreement. "Some of the Divas in this company have been victims of cattle calls. By that, I mean that John Laurinaitis sat down with his pervy little swimsuit catalogs and flipped through them, picking the 'prettiest' of them and calling their agency." All eyes in the ring turned to outside of it, where Alicia Fox had looked up at them. "Two in particular have been in the division's cleansing this week.

"On that note… I'm almost sure that everyone who is sitting in this arena right now knows that the Era of Parental Guidance for the WWE is completely dead and gone and there's nothing you can do about that-can I get a hell yeah?! On that matter, I'd like to point out that all of us 'older' Divas missed the fact that we could cuss each other out, and that we could smack men across the face with bouquets of roses." Christian stood in the crowd of men and was visibly uncomfortable as Lita and Trish exchanged a fist bump. "But, the thing is, when we attacked people, we didn't have to warn people, so that we didn't break a nail in the process."

Catty smirks made their way from the girls inside of the ring to the girls outside, eyes like daggers staring them down as they did so. Everyone in the group was now visibly uncomfortable if they could be, not just Christian.

"Now then, to all of you self-proclaimed beautiful people who are sitting out there in our audience, I'd like for you to give a warm welcome to all of the returning Divas of the second generation of TV-14! Give it up for Ashley!" The blonde girl who had green and pink streaks all throughout her hair stepped forward and around Candice Michelle to throw up two rock-out signs on her hands. She stuck her tongue out before stepping backward into the line.

"Maria!" The redheaded girl blew kisses out into the crowd, even though she was mostly being booed, as Ashley had.

"Candice Michelle!" The brunette Diva ripped open the small black jacket she had been wearing, smiling and winking out at the audience as she did so. She waved to the audience who knew her, though she mostly received boos.

"Mickie James!" Standing in the ring now, she wore a short-sleeved button-up shirt which had been fitted so she could move and fight in it. The country girl inside of her just couldn't help it as she jumped up and down with excitement, hyping up the crowd which had definitely missed her.

"Trish Stratus!" Trish, who had remained mostly absent since her retirement, excluding a few appearances here and there, including the most recent WrestleMania, jumped forward and threw up her index finger as she did so. She garnered a rather large cheer from the crowd, despite the fact that many of the girls had been booed.

"Victoria!" The signature crazy-faced hair-pulling that occurred just to Lita's left of Victoria's fingers going through her black and red hair caused the crowd to go wild with cheers and shouts, though there was definitely a lot of booing.

Finally, Lita herself in the center of it all stepped forward and smirked out at the crowd. "And please, let's not ruin my self esteem with that crappy applause and cheering."

She handed the microphone to Trish who announced, "Lita!"

The crowd definitely didn't applaud or cheer for her. Instead, more than any other Diva, Lita was booed. She laughed and stepped back into the line, taking the microphone from Trish and finishing her speech. "You, WWE Universe, are about to be a part of the biggest takeover ever to be shown on your television, TV-14 or not. Especially because even the audience has to watch their backs when they're in the arena with us. You want to know why?"

"Tell them, Lita."

Victoria was shown saying this, but her voice wasn't picked up by the microphone as she did so.

Regardless of this, Lita stepped forward.

"We're ready to kick some serious ass."

"Rockstar 101" by Rihanna began to play, and the reinstated Divas held up their arms, taking a bow to the cheers and the boos before looking to the girls and motioning for them to leave. Instinctively, the new Divas ran off, the men following behind them, before the reinstated Divas took another bow and left the ring, leaving through the audience.

* * *

_Review, favorite. Questions? Don't be afraid to ask me! You guys will get a little taste of some romance in the next chapter, and you'll get to see some of what the returning Divas really have to think about their situation as well. Until next time!_


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

* * *

The Wednesday morning after the SmackDown taping, the girls who hadn't been injured in the match the night before or hurt in the week altogether gathered up in a hotel room. Bags of snack food were splayed around the room, as well as many water bottles with various amounts of water inside of them. Two boxes of pizza, one half-empty and the other completely empty, sat on top of the desk in the room.

Compared to the number of Divas before Extreme Rules, there weren't quite that many left.

Kelly, AJ, Rosa, Maryse, Kaitlyn, the twins, Alicia, and Gail Kim were the only girls in the entire company who hadn't been practically slaughtered by the returning Divas.

The RAW girls had been on their way to the SmackDown hotel during the attack at the taping, but had later heard about it from the girls, explained by all of the girls involved and those who had been backstage.

"This is… This is crazy…" Kelly said, reaching for a half-full bottle of water that was on the nightstand next to her and drinking it completely empty before replacing it on the nightstand. "I mean, just think about it. Beth's got a major concussion, and possibly worse, and they don't have any idea when she's going to get better."

"Melina tore something in her leg really badly. I forget what it's called. They said that if she had been hurt any further she could have had to completely lose the muscle." Brie, though she and her sister hadn't been close with Melina, sounded very sad as she said this.

"Natalya's out for the week. Lita got her pretty bad, but not badly enough. Tamina's out for more than a week, I heard." AJ piped in.

"Then, obviously, Michelle and Layla. They're out of the hospital now, but they aren't coming back for a while-that's what they said, anyway."

Kelly's eyes were teary as she brought up the seventh 'casualty' of the week's attacks. "And… and Eve…"

"Oh, Kelly…" Gail and Alicia said in unison, wrapping their arms around her from either side.

It was very well known that Alicia, Kelly, and Eve on RAW were close with Natalya, AJ, Kaitlyn, and Gail from SmackDown.

"What are we even supposed to do without Beth, Lay-Cool, and Melina out there?" Kaitlyn asked, reaching for another slice of pizza and taking a bite of it while the other girls mentally debated about her question.

What could they do?

No matter what they tried, the reinstated Divas would continue to find creative ways to attack them. Even with their bodyguards, the girls couldn't get the boys to make themselves involved. With only a little time, the girls had managed to give Natalya and Tamina injuries that kept them from going to RAW to help out in any way.

Maryse had been lucky enough that she hadn't been picked on by one of the more heavy-duty girls out in the ring-she'd only been attacked by Candice, who was good, but on the same level as Maryse when the blonde French Canadian was angry. The same story went for Rosa, who had been grabbed by Maria, the latter of whom didn't have time to attack her.

"I don't know…"

"I don't think there's anything we can do."

AJ and Kaitlyn stood up from the sudden depressing mood, offering to go get more snacks from the vending machine. No one wanted anything, they said, but Gail offered to go with them, and told them to call their bodyguards-respectively Primo, Cody Rhodes, and Justin Gabriel-before they even left the hotel room.

Once they all had left, Brie and Nikki decided to curl up in their queen-sized bed and go to sleep, rolling up beneath the blankets to do so. That left the only girls who were conscious in the room down to Alicia, Kelly, Rosa, and Maryse, none of whom were going to talk to each other, even under these circumstances. They all decided to go back to sleep as well, so Alicia got up from the bed to shut the curtains as they silently decided who was going where. Alicia and Kelly split the second queen bed in the room, while Rosa and Maryse headed back to their room.

"Kelly…"

The whispering was almost silent, but Kelly opened her eyes regardless, only to see Alicia looking at her, a frown on her face. "Huh?"

Alicia was the one whispering, apparently, so as not to bother the twins, but even just whispering so softly it was almost inaudible, Kelly could hear the sadness in her friend's voice. "What are we going to do without Beth?"

"I don't know… I mean… she's our champion." Kelly could see that this wasn't helping Alicia feel any better, so she offered a smile to her friend and laughed a little bit, quietly. "She'll come back, Alicia. She always comes back."

They exchanged a sad smile between each other, and then they closed their eyes and faded to sleep.

* * *

Lita leaned back against the couch's arm closest to the window of their two-room suite's living room. Though the window didn't open, it didn't matter, she liked to be closest to the outdoors as often as she could be. "I love the fact that because I brought all of you in here, I can take you out as I wish." She smiled a bit as she put her head back and looked out the window.

The other girls in the room, who had been paying attention to their own things-including Candice, who had even gone so far as to be painting her nails the moment they got back-turned to Lita, raising their brows at the 'co-leader' of their group.

"What are you talking about?" Victoria asked, seated at the other end of the couch. Lita remained silent for a minute, and Victoria rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "Lita, I swear. Just tell us why you would bring that up. We're not going to bite you."

"Of course not, you aren't stupid." Lita laughed and sat up fully once more, nodding her head a bit and rolling it on her shoulders. "God, this still hurts sometimes."

"You're the one who screwed up the move," Trish nudged her friend and they both laughed, before Lita looked out at the girls.

"That was pretty good. We won the first battle of the war, you know?" The girls had been wearing the same black-on-black outfits they had been wearing on RAW, but without the gloves or the masks. They didn't care if they were seen anymore.

"Did you mean what you said, Lita?" Maria asked, frowning slightly. "I mean, about the Diva Searches?" She motioned to herself, Candice, and Ashley.

Lita just laughed. "Present company excluded."

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I need a shower."

Lita's eyes followed Trish as she stood up from the coffee table and walked into the bathroom, grabbing her toiletries bag and a towel as she walked past the luggage in the entry hall's before shutting the door. Once the water was running, the girls didn't hesitate to celebrate.

"We're all officially back, baby!" Mickie threw her arms up in the air and spun around in the desk chair, dancing a little dance, before everyone started to laugh. Candice made a face, but hadn't been painting her nails so didn't bother to throw a fit. The water shut off for a split second, and they all silenced, but once it went back on, they were all back to goofing off and having fun.

* * *

Meanwhile, far down the hallway from the hotel room, AJ, Kaitlyn, and Gail were standing around nervously, waiting for their bodyguards to show up. Gail was leaning against the wall, playing games on her phone, while Kaitlyn and AJ played rock-paper-scissors. Finally, AJ turned away from them, looking down the hallway and rocking back and forth.

"I told you the guys should have booked their rooms on our floor, or the other way around." Kaitlyn said, as AJ pulled out her Nintendo DS, beginning to play one game or another, more than likely a fighting game.

"Put your game away, AJ, and be a normal person for three seconds." Gail laughed as she said this, and AJ rolled her eyes, shutting the DS and sliding it into her sweater's pocket before looking at the vending machine.

"What do you want to drink?"

AJ and Kaitlyn bickered for a few minutes about what was better-Pepsi or Diet Pepsi, Pepsi or water, and lemonade or lemon-lime soda-before they realized they could both buy their own drinks, and didn't have to share.

AJ punched in the number to grab a water, and then moved to the food vending machine to grab a bag of chips, tucking both of her 'prizes' from the machines into her pocket as well to pull the DS back out and continue playing.

It was at this moment, with AJ playing her game, Kaitlyn getting food, and Gail watching over the girls, that the boys arrived at the vending machine area, all of them smiling at the girls who were under their protection.

"Good to see you all are okay." Primo smiled as AJ looked up at him and hugged him before going back to the game.

"Thank you, Primo. It's good to see that you're all okay, too." Kaitlyn laughed after hugging Cody. From there she looked at AJ, nudging her best friend and fellow Chickbuster. "Hey, you, short one. Isn't it nice that Primo and the boys aren't hurt?"

"Mmhmm."

"Why wouldn't we be okay?"

"Seven girls can be more than vicious enough to take down three men when they want to be." Gail looked at AJ as well, poking her in the shoulder and actually making the small girl take a step forward, losing her balance. "AJ, put the DS away before I take it away from you. Don't make me count at you like you're a three-year-old."

"Fine. Besides, I'm not three, I'm five, get it straight." AJ folded the DS after pausing the game and put it into her pocket before smiling at Primo. "Hola, Primo."

"Hola, AJ. Are you alright?"

"Si. Gracias for your concern." AJ looked at Kaitlyn. "I think I'm ready to head back to our hotel room. Do you want to come with me and Primo? Cody can come, too, if you want." Cody and Kaitlyn were in a conversation about their favorite kinds of movies, and their favorite wrestlers, so they were too busy and engaged to hear AJ ask. AJ and Primo looked at each other, AJ giggled like a small schoolgirl, and then they were off.

Cody and Kaitlyn picked up on the situation a few seconds later, and went in the other direction, toward a room that Gail didn't recognize.

"Why can nothing ever be easy?"

"Life wouldn't dish you anything you can't handle. Besides, you're alright, aren't you?" Justin and Gail hugged each other, and Gail squeezed him a bit tighter than she normally would have as they did so. "You should go back to your room, Gail."

She looked up at him, confused, and frowned a bit. "Why should I do that, exactly?"

"Get some sleep. I'm sure that you haven't gotten much."

Justin was looking at Gail with so much concern in his eyes that she couldn't bear to tell him she'd slept not only almost all night every night in the past week, but that she'd also slept on the ride to the SmackDown hotel. Instead, she nodded. "You're right, I should… I should get some sleep."

Gail offered Justin her hand, which he took, and they walked back to her hotel room, where she turned to look at him. "Well… I guess this is my stop for the night."

"Yeah… I guess it is…"

There was a long moment of dead quiet around them, and Justin began to lean in closer, when Gail turned her head to the side. "You can head back to your room now."

"Alright… I get the hint." He pulled her in for another hug instead. "Can I text you later?"

"Maybe."

* * *

_No notes this chapter! Review/favorite if you like it (or if you don't, ya know)._


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

* * *

Monday Night RAW rolled around, and though the Divas were normally not a huge draw, there were quite a few signs in the audience for the girls in Knoxville, Tennessee. One of them, disturbingly, read "R.I.P. Glamazon", but disappeared after being shown on TV once or twice.

"I'm not sure if I want you going out there, Maryse…" Ted DiBiase, Jr., admitted, moments before the Divas match of the night, which would be including the girl under his protection, Maryse Ouellet. "I'm afraid you're gonna get your ass kicked out there, and that's not okay with me. I'm supposed to protect you, but I can't pull her off of you in a match."

"Ted, I am not going to get my ass kicked out there, you just have to trust me. Ashley was horrible in the ring before, the worst of them all and definitely the least talented, next to Maria. You don't have to worry, either." Maryse placed a hand on Ted's shoulder and patted twice before taking it back. "I have absolutely no worries about this match, or about these girls in general."

Kelly had come along with Maryse and Ted to wait for their match. Her bodyguard, who she had to beg and plead to protect her, but everyone would hopefully know better than to mess with, was CM Punk, who seemed rather humored at this opinion.

"Are you sure you shouldn't be?"

Before Maryse could answer, there was a scoff behind them. "You don't have to put on the strong act for girls who know you aren't. This is just pathetic." Lita commented as Ashley put her hands on her hips, and Lita let out a deep sigh. The reinstated theme song "Rockstar 101" began to play with their TitanTron, and Ashley flipped her hair just before she went through the curtains. "Pathetic," Lita repeated, before running out after her.

"This is a Diva's bout set for one fall! Approaching the ring, from New York, New York, being accompanied by Lita… Ashley!"

Ted was still distraught-looking after they had spoken, and was joined by Kelly. Punk put his arm around the little blonde girl, kissing the top of her head before whispering something. Kelly nodded, and then turned to Ted and Maryse. "We're gonna go back to the locker room to watch you guys. We'll catch up with you after. Be careful, you hear me?"

"Whatever."

Kelly and Punk walked away, leaving Ted staring at Maryse in what resembled horror. "Are you seriously not worried about this?"

"Why should I be? They wouldn't dare lay their hands on me, or you."

"You're her enemy, Maryse. I don't know what you're thinking."

A series of whistle-like noises and techno music began to play as "Pourquoi?" spilled from the arena's speakers and through the curtains went Maryse, Ted on her heels.

"And her opponent, being accompanied to the ring by Ted DiBiase, from Montreal, Quebec, Canada… Maryse!"

It was obvious that Maryse was going to be the underdog going into this match against the returning Ashley, and they didn't expect much of her abilities. This was proven by the lame cheers that were shouted out, drowned out by the booing.

Ashley, in the ring, was laughing so hard you'd think she was about ready to piss her pants, while Lita stood outside of the ring, leaning up against the apron and laughing.

"Don't listen to them." Ted advised Maryse as she got into the ring and flipped her hair, winking and then turning around to strip off her jacket and toss it to Ted as she turned around.

"Cute." Ashley snarled, a wild smirk gracing her lips as Maryse turned around to face her once again. "You get your personality out of a bad reality show? Or, wait, was it a cereal box?"

"At least I didn't get mine out of a bad porn," Maryse retorted, and Ashley's face turned to anger.

She knew that she was getting under her skin, so as they went in to lock up, Maryse held out a hand to Ashley and fluffed up her hair, flipping her head over-and feeling something hard hit her in the face.

Ashley had punted her using her knee instead of her foot, and then was immediately on top of her as the bell rang for the match to begin. Maryse felt herself being mauled like a wild animal was on top of her, and she flailed about, trying to get in a slap or a kick-anything that would get this beast off of her!

"What a cheap shot to start the match from Ashley, King! Are you excited to see Ashley coming back into the ring?"

"I'm always excited to see more puppies, Cole! Maybe not as much when they've been doing what these returning puppies have been doing…"

Ted slammed his hands into the mat, trying to cheer Maryse on, but it only distracted her as Ashley was pulled off of her by the referee. She barely had a second to breathe before Ashley had pulled her to her feet and threw her into a turnbuckle somewhere-everything was so dizzying now.

Ashley came running at Maryse, but before Maryse could duck out of the way, Ashley had slammed into her and was climbing to the top rope to hit an elbow drop. Maryse fell to the ground, but not all the way, and reached for the ropes, pulling herself up. Ashley instead jumped back down and took Maryse by the hair, slamming her to the ground.

"Good job, Ashley!" Lita shouted from Ashley's corner.

"It sure seems like Ashley's gotten a lot more violent in the time she's been gone, King."

"You're telling me, Cole. Just imagine how Maryse must feel. Ashley's touching that beautiful blonde hair!"

Ted stepped up onto the apron, trying to distract Ashley for a second. Instead, Lita came running around the ring and grabbed him, pulling him down and shoving him back.

Ashley had gotten to the top rope once again and was perched there as Maryse rocked back and forth, trying to stand. Maryse got to her feet, and Ashley jumped, grabbing Maryse's neck with her ankles and spinning her around in a hurricanrana. She pinned Maryse straight out of this, and got a very strange reaction from the crowd-they had been cheering her before the match, but were booing her now.

Ted reached into the ring and grabbed Maryse by the arm, pulling her out of the ring. Maryse's nose was bleeding furiously from something Ashley had done while he was fighting with Lita, and he carried her back as Ashley turned to the timekeeper.

"Give me a mic." When the timekeeper didn't move quickly enough, Ashley ripped a page from Lita's book and shouted, "Give me a microphone!"

After snatching it from his hands, Ashley moved to the center of the ring, and let out a deep sigh before clicking her tongue once and putting the microphone to her mouth.

"I'm sure that no one wants to hear this, but this is the truth… and I think that all of you deserve the truth. That's why we're here, isn't it? To tell you the truth, to show you the truth, and to fix it. The WWE, face it, doesn't give a damn about their Divas. They don't care if we win, or if we lose. They don't care about their champion, who we took out personally last week right here on RAW, and who no one has heard from since. They care about sending girls in little to nothing to the ring to shake their tits and beat each other up for the entertainment of all of the horny men in the audience."

The audience began to loudly boo her at this, but she waved a hand through the air to shut them up. When they finally quieted down, she continued speaking, much to the crowd's continuing discontent. "If you'd like proof, I'll give you some. I won the WWE Diva Search in 2005, but instead of taking the time out of their day to train me officially, I was given a bunch of tapes and told, 'We'll see you when you're done watching these.' I had to teach myself. On top of that, I went up against Victoria almost immediately, a two-time Women's Champion, and a woman who later became a Women's Champion, Candice Michelle.

"Later, when I posed for Playboy in 2007, the WWE still cared more about my pictorial than teaching me how to really wrestle as I fought Melina, a vicious fighter who was-at the time-more talented than I was."

Ashley looked down for a moment, and then back out into the crowd. "Don't you realize what that says about how the WWE really cares about their Divas? They don't. Unlucky break for them if the girls they hired didn't get their own training." Motioning to the stage, where Ted and Maryse had retreated already, Ashley let out a laugh. "Obviously, I've been trained now."

* * *

_Literally, the response to this has been amazing, I can't say that enough. Thank you for reading, thank you so much. Review, ask questions if you have them! I don't bite hard. Never-ending thanks to __**jcott3**__ for everything, and to all those who review the chapters as they're posted._


	7. Chapter 7

I would be bold-faced lying if I didn't say that I love publishing this. I would publish this continually even if I got no reviews, no messages asking me for plot details (that I won't give out, especially if they're major! sorry guys!), no views on my stories. But I do. And that's amazing. In less than a month I've posted seven chapters, including this one, and to me that's just incredible.

I love all of the people who review, who message me, who even just flip through this absentmindedly and don't do anything (because I have been that person, I know they exist), and I would like to thank all of you. Infinite thanks go out to everyone who has inspired me to write this story, or any others.

Please, enjoy this chapter.

* * *

CHAPTER SEVEN

* * *

The next night, at the taping for WWE Friday Night SmackDown, Maria Kanellis stood in front of a mirror in the locker room that had been designated only for herself, Trish, and the other reinstated girls. Ashley and Lita were absent due to their appearance on RAW, but would be meeting up with the rest of the girls on Wednesday.

Trish stood behind Maria, adjusting her outfit, while everyone else lounged around the locker room and waited for the match to begin.

Normally, Maria would have been dressed in a pair of skin-tight pants and a top that was practically like a bra, as always, with a set of gloves that barely covered any of her hands, let alone that served a purpose in her match. Now, however, standing in front of the mirror, she wore an UnderArmour tank top with a sports bra underneath it, and no gloves on her hands. Her normally manicured fingers were free of any polish except for the clear coat Candice had insisted on applying, and her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, tight.

In retrospect, she figured out that she looked like she was going to the gym to work out… but it wasn't going to be quite as difficult as working out to beat Alicia Fox in a match.

When Maria had initially been in the business, before she had left and all of that, Maria could only remember speaking to Alicia on a few occasions, but she was sure they'd spoken plenty of times. Alicia had taken the mean-girl persona she still carried with her at the time, however, a bit too far, and then took the nice-girl persona too far after that, when she realized she had been being a massive bitch and that was why nobody liked her.

Maria never understood the girls who changed their personalities like they changed their damn underwear, so when Alicia did that, Maria didn't bother trying to keep in contact with her after she left the company.

"I like the idea of putting the mesh UnderArmour on over," Candice commented as she filed her nails down, laying across one of the couches with her legs across Victoria's lap. "It looks nice. The lime green up top contrasts with the white underneath and the black glitter pants on the bottom, without it being too much."

Mickie James had a bag of Dum-Dum suckers sitting on the vanity next to her, and smiled at Maria as she pulled out a strawberry-flavored one. "Do you want one before you go on? They help me ease my stomach before I go out there."

"I'll pass for now." Maria thought about it for a second and then shrugged, holding her hand out anyway. "Actually, I think I'll have Trish hold on to it, and I'll take it after the match."

Mickie had unwrapped the strawberry one and popped it into her mouth, but handed Maria a root beer float-flavored one. Maria passed this off to Trish to put into the pocket of her pants, and then turned back to the mirror to pat down any stray hairs.

Trish laughed a bit as she looked over at Maria. "You know, I almost like the idea that you're going with the red hair, even though you don't actually have to… but then again, I'm sure it's a great way to get the attention that you deserve, so… good for you." Trish picked up a brush from next to Mickie and moved Maria over a bit in the mirror to brush her hair out.

Victoria smiled, and Candice looked over at her as she attempted to adjust the way she was sitting on the couch, so she stopped. "Don't worry about that sort of stuff, Trish. We've all got something fun going with our hair. We're standouts here. Candice has hers cut to that ungodly short length, I've got my red highlights, Mickie's got the light blonde highlights, you went back to brown, Maria and Lita have red, and Ashley's got her green and pink."

"Who would have ever thought that we'd all end up coming together, huh?"

"Anyone with a brain."

Maria ignored Victoria's side comment and looked over to Candice as she finished checking herself out and fixing anything she didn't like. "So, hey, where are you hiding Torrie? I thought that the three of you were inseparable? At least, for a while you guys were. Ashley mentioned you guys, sort of, when she was talking yesterday."

"Torrie didn't want to come back to the WWE right now. She told me that she was too focused on her life now to just drop everything she's accomplished since she left." Candice shrugged. "I told her that I understood where she was coming from, and besides that, she's never gotten along well with big groups of people.

* * *

Alicia Fox sat with Kelly Kelly in the Diva's locker room, located just a few minutes down the hallway of the arena in Jacksonville, Florida from the other girls. Though Kelly was excited to be in her hometown, she was definitely looking a little bit down as she sat to the side, watching Alicia finish reapplying her lip gloss.

"Damn…" Alicia spoke suddenly after a few minutes of the silence that followed. "I wish that Eve was here to see us now… we've all sort of come together. I think she'd like that."

Unlike Ashley and Lita, who were in no rush to get back to their friends because they could fend for themselves, Maryse had shuttled herself directly to SmackDown's taping with Kelly. This may or may not have been a mistake on her part, as Kelly told the French-Canadian, "I told you so," at least three times while they were on the plane.

Maryse sat across the locker room from them now, glaring at the two girls who were at least a bit happier than she was in her semi-angered state. She adjusted her nose guard slightly and then spoke. "I just can't believe this… Not only do they have the nerve to attack me, to maul me, and to ruin my beautiful face…" She shook her head, and Kelly frowned at Maryse's obsession with the nose injury she had sustained, while Ted fought laughter from his place leaning against the wall behind her. The entire way to Jacksonville he'd been comforting her though he obviously thought she was being ridiculous. "They get their own locker room, and they came here in a limo. They go everywhere in a limo!"

"Kelly, you know that I didn't mean that in a bad way, what I said about Eve…" Alicia opted to change the subject, and Maryse rolled her eyes as she continued to obsess. "If Eve was here, well… I'm not even sure. I feel like Eve would be the one going out there instead of me if she was here, because that's just the person she is, and I wouldn't want that."

Kelly shrugged her shoulders sadly, before feeling CM Punk grab hold of them and massage them lightly to try to ease her stress. "I miss Eve, too, Alicia. You know that. I miss her more than I miss any of the other girls who are out on injury right now… we're best friends, the three of us…"

"Definitely."

"Vomit."

There was another moment of silence after Maryse's comment, before Alicia sat down next to Kelly and looked her friend right in the eye. "I don't want you to come out with me to the ring this time. Not tonight, Kelly."

"What? Why not?"

"I don't know what I could do if you got hurt out there, being with me. Besides, I'll have Sheamus come down with me… I should get back in one piece."

* * *

"Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa-Party" started to play throughout the arena, and then out skipped Alicia Fox, smiling and waving to the crowd, blowing kisses from the stage before pushing back the fuzzy hood she wore and revealing her bright red hair with a laugh. From there, she went directly to the ring, hopping in and jumping to the second rope. Sheamus pointed up to her from where he stood at ringside, and she laughed again, jumping down and skipping to the center of the ring to face the stage and wait for her opponent.

Maria entered in almost exactly the same way she always had, except instead of blowing a kiss out to the crowd around them, she simply winked out at them. After that, she walked down to the ring, talking strategy with Trish the whole time. For some reason-which was rather obvious to Alicia later-this made Alicia feel very uneasy in her stomach, and she almost asked if she could have a break from the taping to go vomit.

She didn't-mistake number one had been made.

Maria slid effortlessly up into the ring, flipping her bright red ponytail away from her shoulders before climbing up to the second turnbuckle opposite Alicia.

Alicia knew she had to resort to a tactic that she didn't particularly enjoy using right then and there. Regardless, she rushed forward so that she was standing behind Maria, grabbing her by the red hair that had been so neatly put together before the match and pulling it, so that Maria's thin body came falling back and slammed down into the mat.

The referee motioned to the timekeeper to ring the bell as Maria kipped up to her feet, holding her ponytail and rubbing her head a bit. "Oh, you'll learn to regret that, Foxy!" She ran at Alicia then, hitting a clean clothesline on her fellow unnatural redhead and leaving her on the ground. They went back and forth for a few minutes then, Maria dominating the match, until she jumped onto Alicia and had to get pulled back and spoken to by the referee, Mike Chioda.

"What's Trish doing, Cole?" Josh asked as Trish stuck her hand into her back pocket, and then began grinding her fingers into the face of Alicia Fox.

"She's got a pair of brass knuckles!" Michael responded as Trish pulled away from Alicia, the latter girl holding her face as the former tossed the brass knuckles away from her and toward the timekeeper when she was done.

Maria picked up Alicia then, letting her regain her balance as she teased her. "Come on, Foxy! Try to hit me, just one time! Get a hit in the match!"

Alicia ran forward on drowsy feet to clothesline Maria, who ducked out of the way and then spun around to run with Alicia for a few steps before hitting her with the Beautiful Bulldog. She got a three-count of this and Trish got into the ring.

Maria threw Alicia from the ring then, into Sheamus, who managed to catch the falling body of Alicia Fox as it flew through the air. He let Alicia stand on her own and checked her for any bruises as they began their walk backstage, and Trish got Maria a microphone.

Maria stepped forward then, standing only a couple of feet away from the ropes, rolling her head on her neck as she fixed the ponytail at the crown of her head, and then held out her hand for the microphone Trish had gotten for her, as well as for the sucker, which she received after.

"The WWE doesn't care about their Divas." The people who sat in the crowd who had watched RAW shuffled their movement in their seats, hoping that Maria wouldn't just go on the same rant. "I'll cut the crap here, though, and tell you exactly what you want to hear. The juiciest part. I'll tell you the part that explains that the only reason I was put into the Diva Search was because of my looks. That's the same reason that Foxy here, and your precious Kelly Kelly, were hired, actually. It's because they were in magazines, modeling.

"So, with the knowledge that I was a pretty girl with my light brown hair, they told me to dumb myself down. They ordered me to do that. They made me act stupid, and listen, I'm not stupid. I'm one of the most intelligent people that you'd ever meet, I finished in the top 5 of Celebrity Apprentice for crying out loud! But the WWE thought that they would be putting me directly into the can-and my beautiful face, let's not forget that much-if I got to be smart on their shows. God forbid." Maria rolled her eyes and then looked at Trish, who held up her hands.

"Not my fault," she was shown saying, and Maria looked back out to the crowd.

"From there, the WWE said that I was going to be a backstage interviewer, though I had been looking for a job as a Diva. I had to interview all of these sweaty, disgusting people. They ordered me to spend my time with Santino Marella and John Cena, told me that I had to pretend to care about them, when it was obvious I didn't to anyone who really knew me. Playboy wasn't even my idea-the WWE was selling me out."

The crowd was booing loudly now, but Maria wasn't having any of that, and refused to take it. "Shut up and listen to me!" she screamed, shocking them into silence. "The WWE was wrong about me, and so were all of you. When I got into the ring, I got things done, even though I had never been trained a day in my life! None of the girls in the Diva Search were trained, unless you include Layla's prior dance experience with the Miami Heat-which I don't think any professional should."

A guitar riff interrupted Maria's speech there, and the two girls in the ring turned their attention to the stage.

The blonde almost threw them off, initially, until they noticed that it wasn't Kelly entering to this music. It was, instead, a girl who had been attacked by the group of them a week earlier on SmackDown-Natalya. The crowd cheered wildly for her, and she smiled a bit before turning her attention to Trish and Maria in the ring.

"You girls didn't get your job done last week. I'm still here, aren't I? And as long as I'm still standing, as long as I am breathing, and there is blood flowing through my veins, I will not let you take over this company!" The crowd cheered, but Trish and Maria didn't seem to care. Trish took the microphone from the redhead and stepped up to talk to Natalya.

"You and what army? All of your commanding officers are gone, what's the point in trying? Beth Phoenix, Melina, Eve Torres, Tamina, Michelle McCool, Layla… face it, little girl. You're all alone, and you shouldn't even try to stop us."

"You've been gone for a long time, Trish, and obviously, you haven't been paying attention. I'm not alone. In fact, I have WWE's young lions with me."

Let's go hit the dance floor, party all night long. Let's go cut the groove, show them we belong.

Maria raised her eyebrows and leaned her head a bit forward as she looked at Kaitlyn and AJ, who came out to stand on either side of Natalya.

"The Chickbusters against Trish and Maria, next week on SmackDown."

"Aww, Natalya, are you making matches for your little day care service now? That's so cute! But they're the ones who should be scared."

"Fine, I guess you're just too scared to fight them."

"Fine-next week, you're on."

* * *

_Review/comment/message. Questions, comments, and concerns that haven't been addressed in the actual writings will be addressed in chapter 10! Thank you for reading._


	8. Chapter 8

I'm sorry for not posting in two weeks! /: I feel awful, but I got really busy in my personal life, and it just wasn't in the cards to update.

Regardless of that, I hope you all enjoy chapter eight.

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHT

* * *

Thursday afternoon, after the SmackDown taping, Kelly and CM Punk sat across from each other. He had asked her to go to lunch and she just couldn't say no. Despite trying to deny the feelings that were obvious to everyone else, Kelly knew that she cared about him more than she let herself see.

Their waitress, who was obviously attracted to Punk but didn't want to mess with his beautiful date there, had just taken their order, and disappeared through the restaurant as Kelly looked back to Punk. He smiled back to her, and she giggled before looking down into her lemonade.

"So, are you alright?" He asked, after a moment of silence between them, listening to the cars passing by and the restaurant noise around them.

Kelly looked up, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… I know you were really worried before. About the girls who just came back. How they took out Eve and all of that…" He put his hand over hers on top of the table. "We don't have to talk about this if you don't want to."

She shrugged. "We'll have to talk about it eventually. I mean, I begged you to be my bodyguard from them, I can't just not talk to you about everything." She met his eyes once again. "Yes, I am really scared of them. Deathly afraid. They took out Eve, and Beth, and all of the other girls… I mean… what if they got to me? They would destroy me. I'm awful." She took her hands back and put them over her face, trying to stop herself from crying.

Punk stood up from across the table and moved over to kneel next to her chair, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to him. "Kelly… hey… what if I helped you a little? Not too much, but you have to get over your fear of them. As long as you fear them, they're going to have power over you. You have to accept that some pain is going to be necessary so that you girls can get them out of here, or at least win this war." She looked up and met his eyes, and he smiled at her, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "I'll make sure nothing really bad happens to you, as well, okay? But you need to step up and stop being afraid."

Kelly kept her eyes locked with Punk for a bit before placing a small kiss on his lips and nodding. "I… Okay. I'm going to step it up. I'm going to try to stop being so afraid. And, uh…" she grabbed his hand before he could get back into his seat, and pulled him back over for another quick kiss. "Thank you… for believing in me."

* * *

That night, all of the girls who had been signed to the company before this mess-no resigning of their contracts necessary-were gathered up in one hotel room once again, gossiping and laughing as they talked with each other about the week. Well, about everything but the attacks on Maryse-who had left for now because she didn't want anyone to have to see her with her mask on in the ring-and Alicia Fox.

They talked at first about the girls who were all missing, the list of which still included all of the girls with major injuries, and Tamina, who was going to be out for another week at least, if not for a longer amount of time.

"Alright, I am absolutely sick and tired of looking at these same four walls." Kelly sat up from where she had been laying on her stomach across one of the two queen beds in the room, tossing her feet over the edge of the bed to stand up next to the window and look out over the girls. "I want to get out there, go out-have fun."

"But what about-"

"No buts." Kelly interrupted a rather scared-looking AJ's complaint, and Kaitlyn put her hand on AJ's shoulder to try calming down the panic rising in her eyes. They had a match next week against them, they should at least be over the fear. "There will be no buts about anything. Do you know the chance that they'll all be out wherever we go?"

"Little to none." Natalya admitted from where she had been sitting next to AJ and Kaitlyn, and Alicia nodded from her seat next to Kelly, standing up as well. "It's actually not such an awful idea to go out and have some fun. Let loose."

"But, where would we even go?"

AJ still seemed reserved at this idea, and she linked her arm up with Kaitlyn, who hadn't stood up to join the mob mentality yet, either.

"I don't want to go anywhere weird." Kaitlyn added.

"We'll just go to a club or something-someone look up clubs with good reviews in the area." Alicia was officially in on the plan, and quickly, everyone had rushed into action but AJ and Kaitlyn, who required a little pushing but joined in later.

By the time 11 pm rolled around, every girl who had been in her pajamas in the hotel room was dressed completely and ready to go, from their head to their toes. Many of the girls wore shorts and tank tops with boots or heels, but of course AJ wore a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and her Converse boots. The Bella twins, Natalya, and Kelly opted for minidresses. Aksana and Alicia opted for looser fitted dressed than the body-contouring dresses, but still wore dresses out.

From there, they called up all of their bodyguards to meet them in the lobby, and they all had been getting ready as well. When they got to the lobby, they were quite the sight to be seen, smiling and laughing as they grabbed each other for hugs or cheek kisses-or actual kisses-as they coupled up with their bodyguards.

Aksana clung to the arm of Goldust, as they had continued to date off-screen. It was a strange relationship, but he made her happy, which was strange for such a bratty girl like Aksana. Meanwhile, Natalya, AJ and Kaitlyn clung to their own bodyguards of Tyson Kidd, Primo, and Cody Rhodes.

"Let's go, guys."

"Can I say it?" Zack Ryder, bodyguard of Rosa, asked as they walked to the front door, and all of the girls rolled their eyes as Rosa squeezed his arm.

"No!" everyone shouted, shaking their heads as they walked through the lobby.

"Ah, come on, let me say it!"

"Fine, just say it," Rosa said with a roll of her eyes. "If it will shut you up."

"Cabs are here!"

"They're our rentals, the valet just pulled them around…" Kelly muttered as they all walked out to where, indeed, their rental cars had been pulled around. They were piling into two large SUVs that had been rented by Cody Rhodes and CM Punk-though Punk opted not to actually drive it-and were quickly to one of the clubs in the city.

Dancing and laughter ensued for the first little while, and all of them gathered in the center of the dance floor, where they did-of course-dance.

Now, all of the girls had gathered around in a booth, their bodyguards with them, a few of the men standing just outside of the booth for lack of room. Everyone was laughing, drinking, and having a good time. Gail's phone went off and from her seat at the edge of the booth, she covered it from the other girls reading it, and then looked up at Justin.

"Hey, I've got to go make a call. I'll just step outside for a minute, alright?" Justin helped her from the booth and then watched her as she left to make sure she was alright, before turning back to the conversation for a minute.

Everyone but Lita and Trish from the new girls walked up then, completely perfect-looking and wearing what were definitely designer dresses and shoes, with their hair and makeup done perfectly.

"Wow," Mickie said, flipping her practically blonde hair over her shoulder. "I guess they'll let anyone in here."

The other girls laughed as Justin and Tyson stepped up in front of the girls. Jeff Hardy and Randy flanked them, because even though Randy's girl, Eve, had been taken out, he still spent time with the rest of them, and Nikki was seated in the back of the booth with Brie.

"We don't want trouble." Justin tried to calm the situation, but it didn't seem to help, as the girls in the booth stood up to talk with the girls outside of it.

"Wow, Mickie's right. What, is she wearing a t-shirt?" Maria raised her eyebrows and pointed directly at AJ, but Kaitlyn rebutted for her friend.

"Uh, excuse you, but at least she didn't pose for Playboy like two little sluts I see."

"Oh, yeah, fitness model?"

"Crazy bitch!"

"Ugly twins!"

"At least we're not anorexic!" Brie and Nikki responded in unison.

"Which one of you was unlucky enough to get stuck with Matt Hardy?" Ashley rolled her eyes, only furthering the tension. "Let me just warn you, he comes up a little short in the bedroom." The girls with her laughed as club security came up, holding the Divas back in their booth.

"What's going on here?" A tall, buff guy asked. He was wearing sunglasses indoors, so the girls couldn't tell if he was on something or just a douche.

"Oh, nothing. We were just leaving." The girls did just that, disappearing back out the door like they had arrived, and Justin looked back at the booth… only to realize Gail was still gone.

"Hey, wait, where's Gail?"

The girls looked everywhere for her in the club, checking the bathrooms and the bar, but ended up returning to the booth empty-handed. Justin was distraught, wondering how he could let that happen, before Kelly spoke up, and made it worse.

"Oh, my God… what if Lita and Trish took her? What if the other girls were just a distraction so that Lita and Trish could grab Gail from outside?!"

The booth exploded with theories about this, and Justin shook his head. "I'm getting a car full of you guys and we're going back to the hotel to look for Gail. She has to be somewhere, she wouldn't just go away randomly."

When they got back to the hotel, they began searching every room they could think of, starting with the room that Maryse had originally been in. They thought that she might have retreated there for some peace and quiet… but they ended up in the room that Gail was originally supposed to be in, with Kelly and Alicia Fox, and found her curled up on the bed in her pajamas, watching TV.

"Oh, my God, you guys. You scared me…" Gail sat up on the bed and crossed her legs, putting the pillow she had been holding in her lap. "Why are you guys back so early?"

"You scared the shit out of us, Gail!" Justin crossed the room and took her into his arms, Gail smiling and wrapping her arms around his neck as well. "Why didn't you come inside and just ask to go back to the hotel? I would have come with you in the taxi, you wouldn't have had to go alone."

"I'm sorry that I worried you, I just… wanted to come back. I got tired." Gail kissed Justin on the cheek and smiled at him. "I really am sorry, but I am tired… so, if I could get some sleep now?"

"Yeah, sure…" Justin said, retreating from the room with the girls he'd brought along, who were all in the other room.

* * *

_Do you guys have any theories on what happened to Gail, or do you believe her story? How about that confrontation in the club between the two groups of girls? It's getting a little heavy!_

_Review/favorite/follow for more!_


	9. Chapter 9

I'm sorry that I haven't posted anything in the past few weeks. I've been really busy, I lost internet connection for a few weeks due to my internet going out, and then I had to move... but I'm back. Most of this chapter was inspired by **jcott3**, who if you haven't noticed, was a huge part of this entire process. So, a lot of thanks go out to **jcott3**.

* * *

CHAPTER NINE

* * *

The crowd was restless as they sat back down. They had been told that after the commercial break, they would find out the new name of the returning Divas' group, and had since SmackDown been talking about it. No one referred to them as anything but "the returning Divas," but assumed that they had a name.

Suddenly, "Rockstar 101" began to play, and the crowd began to cheer and boo. This was coupled up with the TitanTron of all of their studios and even some older matches thrown together, and clips of them exiting a limousine in the parking lot.

Then, out came all seven of the Divas, dressed in more casual clothing, but all of it definitely high-quality designer. Trish carried a microphone in her right hand and smiled, waving out to all of them. Mickie was at her heels, carrying a clipboard and a microphone as well, with Lita next to her. The other four girls followed behind.

They all got into the ring in an orderly fashion, following Trish and Mickie in a straight line as they went up the steel steps and got into the ring. Mickie and Trish took places front and center, Lita taking Victoria's spot in the lineup this time around as Trish began to speak into her microphone and the crowd quieted down.

"Over the past week or so, the rumor mill's been spitting out that all of you want to know who and what we really are? Am I right?" The audience cheered and Trish smiled, nodding a bit before speaking again. "Though I'm more than happy to have been compared to the likes of some of the greatest stables of all time within the WWE, I've heard that you all want to know who we really are… Not just some knockoffs. Well, am I wrong? Do you want to know who we are?" They cheered again, and Trish smiled, handing the speaking off to Mickie as she looked down at her clipboard.

"The Diva Nexus, and/or the Dexus."

Trish shook her head. "The Nexus wishes they were us."

"Lega-She."

"Maybe if we had Stacy Keibler…" Trish began, and the crowd began to cheer for Stacy, before Trish commented, "If she knew how to wrestle, that is."

"Diva-Lution."

Behind Mickie, the shenanigans had begun, as the other five girls in DEAR struck the 'Evolution of Man' poses, moving from Neanderthal man to current man, and Trish sang, "The Diva-Lution is a mystery…"

"That's copyrighted, let's not get sued now," Mickie joked as she nudged Trish, and began to speak again. "The Seven Horsewomen."

All seven girls of DEAR held up seven fingers-four on their left hands, three on their right-and shouted, "Wooo!" in the style of Ric Flair himself.

"The Diva World Order."

The girls of DEAR sang the NWO theme song, ending with Trish saying, "For life." as all of the girls struck a "NWO 4 Life" sign.

"Trish's Devils." The five girls in the back put their index fingers up on the tops of their heads like devil horns, with devilish, but coy, smirks on their lips.

"That's my favorite," Trish commented, getting laughter all around.

"And, my personal favorite, are you ready?" The crowd shouted, but Mickie shook her head, bending down a bit as she shouted, "Are you ready?!" The crowd screamed and she stood up. "D-va-Generation X!"

The girls in the ring joined together for a big, "Suck it!" and they all laughed before Mickie took her place back next to Trish, and Trish began to speak again.

"If I could truthfully tell you all that I liked any of your guesses, I would tell you. But I won't lie to all of you poor people. Now, since none of you have seen it yet, can I have a shot of our new nameplate please, for our official entrance video?"

The girls in the ring all turned to face the TitanTron, and four letters appeared. Victoria began to speak then, having taken the microphone from Trish. "We are DEAR, D.E.A.R. The word DEAR is made up of four letters, all of which we have decided stand for something, which represents part of our group." She handed the microphone to Ashley.

"The letter D stands for diligence. We are careful and persistent, and we put all of our effort into our work, constantly."

Maria took the microphone then, continuing to spell out their name. "The E stands for entertaining. We vow that we will come out here every week to entertain all of you in the WWE Universe. That doesn't mean that we'll come out here, get down on our hands and knees, and crawl around on these filthy-ass arena floors to make sure that you all have a good time. But we will make sure that your money is well-spent."

"The A stands for arrogance," Candice Michelle stated, a smirk on her lips. "I promise that we can pass that test. We're all more than arrogant, actually, but unlike the Nexus, we all can actually back up our claims, time after time after time. If we say that we deserve more attention than someone else, we will come out here and we will prove it. We won't just say it."

The microphone finally came back to Lita then, and they were all standing in a line once more. "The R stands for ready, because we are ready for anything and everything. DEAR has to know what's coming and we have to be able to stand up for ourselves, and the other members of our group. Should something go wrong? We're always going to be there. If we're outnumbered, we're going to beat them regardless. DEAR is about proving you don't have to be a bimbo to be a Diva, which is something all of us believe. We are DEAR, and we would like to welcome you to the new World Wrestling Entertainment."

_Holla, holla!_

Kelly Kelly herself walked out onto the stage then, dressed in a pink and black attire, no fear showing in her eyes or her walk as she took her place at the top of the ramp. She wasn't smiling, but still waved to the crowd as she put the microphone she'd brought out up to her lips. "Well, DEAR… I could tell you that I like you, but I don't want to lie to you poor girls." She stuck out her bottom lip as Trish rolled her eyes, and then took a deep breath before looking down at the brunette co-leader of the group. "I'd like to issue you a challenge. Any one of you against me, tonight."

DEAR, in the ring, laughed at her, but Kelly stood her ground. Trish noticed this, and nodded a bit. "You aren't afraid of us?" Kelly shook her head. "Huh. You, who have failed time and time again to be good enough to win any sort of championship. You, who have no idea what it is to actually be a wrestler, but who still call yourself one. Face it, Kelly, you're nothing but a worthless whore whose 'big move' is pulling those short-shorts up your ass and rubbing it in people's faces. You're a pathetic waste of space, and I'd like to stomp out any hope you have myself. I'll teach you some manners, do you hear me?"

Mickie, still holding her microphone, stepped up. "No, no, Trish. I don't want you to have to waste your energy on this…" she waved her hand around in the air, searching for a word. "Trash. She's not worth breaking a sweat on. I'll take the match, Kelly."

Kelly set her microphone down right there and started to walk to the ring as her theme began playing once again, the other members of DEAR getting out of the ring as Mickie rolled the sleeves on her plaid button-up and tied the bottom so that it would stay up. She adjusted the boots she was wearing and smirked at Kelly.

"I'll still kick your ass," she taunted as a referee ran down to the ring and slid in, motioning for the timekeeper to ring the bell.

Trish took a seat at commentary as this happened, taking a headset and putting it on her head but not speaking while Cole and Lawler tried talking to her.

"So, what exactly is the point of DEAR?" Jerry Lawler asked as Mickie and Kelly dove in for the lockup and Mickie threw Kelly toward her own corner, where DEAR was standing around the edges. "I mean, you never did explain."

Trish rolled her eyes. "I didn't think it was possible, Lawler, but you've only gotten to be more of an idiot in the time since I've been gone. Take this thing off me, I don't want to talk to you people." Trish removed the headset and moved the chair she was in further away from the commentary table as the girls continued to fight.

Maria slid her hand across the ring in an attempt to trip Kelly as Mickie stepped away from her, missing by inches but still being seen by the referee.

"Get out of here!" He shouted, motioning for the girls to leave. "Get out of here!"

Trish took her commentary headset back just to say into it, "Jerry, this is why we're here. Unfair treatment."

"Unfair treatment? Maria tried to trip Kelly Kelly for no reason in the middle of a match she's not involved in!" Lawler shook his head as the five girls at ringside walked off, Trish still seated with them and Mickie throwing Kelly around like a rag doll in the ring.

Kelly grabbed Mickie by the hair when Mickie went to toss her again, and brought her down onto her face. Mickie held her nose as she sat back up, and Cole laughed.

"That's what you get."

"Shut up, Cole." Trish scoffed.

From there, Trish watched in horror as Kelly seemed to take over the match with simple reversals and grappling moves. She stood up as Kelly walked to the center of the ring, signaling for the Stinkface. The crowd started screaming for her signature move then, and she nodded, smiling and preparing for it.

"Hey, that's my water!" Cole shouted as Trish grabbed his sports water bottle and walked over to Mickie, spraying it into her face and shocking her back into reality where she was in the corner.

Mickie stood up as Kelly began to back up, still thinking Mickie was in the corner, and grabbed Kelly by the back of her top to throw her into the corner. Kelly slammed into the corner but stepped out a second later, shocked. Mickie hit her with the Mick Kick and then grabbed her by the arm to drag her to the center of the ring, pulling her to her feet.

Mickie let out a scream as she tucked Kelly's head under her arm and then jumped up, coming back down and hitting Kelly with a hard Mickie-DT.

Trish and Mickie celebrated Mickie's win just outside of the ring in front of the commentary table as Kelly sat up, holding her head and neck as she watched them taunt her. They moved after a moment, and Kelly stumbled to her feet, watching from the ring as they walked back to meet the other members of DEAR.

* * *

When Kelly finally got backstage a few minutes later, after leaving with cheers and boos from the audience following her, all of her friends were waiting for her. Well, Alicia, Sheamus, and CM Punk, at least.

Alicia ran up to Kelly and hugged her tightly, to which Kelly laughed and hugged her friend back. "Are you crazy?!" Alicia shouted with a laugh as she ruffled Kelly's hair. "You could have died out there! That was Mickie James, and she was angry!"

CM Punk walked up to Kelly as she was about to answer Alicia and pulled her in for a hug. "Kelly, you have no idea how proud I am of you right now."

"Why?" Kelly stepped back and accepted the peck on the lips Punk gave her. "I got my ass kicked by a girl who used to be one of my friends. Now, I guess, she's one of my enemies."

"You weren't afraid of them. You challenged DEAR, you didn't back down when they laughed at you and teased you, and when you got beaten, you got back up on your feet and came back here. You didn't back down from them, and I am so proud of you, Kelly."

* * *

_Did Kelly do the right thing in challenging D.E.A.R.? Also, how do you like the name of our favorite stable that we love to hate and hate to love?_

_Review, favorite, and follow! Also, do you guys want me to start putting chapter previews up? You know, "Next chapter, DEAR pulls a fast one on the Chickbusters." and stuff like that? Let me know in your reviews!_


	10. Chapter 10

I'm uploading multiple times in a day, look at me, rebel that I am. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

By the way, to all of my American readers, happy Fourth of July/Independence Day!

* * *

CHAPTER TEN

* * *

AJ Lee and Kaitlyn stood backstage, looking into the eyes of their mentor, Natalya, as she looked over their outfits. AJ wore her plaid gear in red, and Natalya adjusted the shorts just a bit, before fixing the elbow and knee pads and moving to Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn was also dressed in red, and Natalya adjusted her gear top before shrugging.

"You look fine to me. Any more commentary?" Natalya turned around and smiled at the other girls in the locker room, who shrugged. "None? Alright, let's head out and talk to the guys."

"I don't want to have them at ringside," AJ admitted as she fluffed up her hair and walked with Kaitlyn behind Natalya down the hallway. "It feels kind of needy…"

Kaitlyn looked over at AJ. "I thought that you and Primo were getting closer."

"I mean, I guess we are, but it's just a little weird… he was my mentor, and now he's my quasi-boyfriend? It's just not normal." AJ shook her head as Natalya stopped outside of the locker room where she knew the boys would be. "Not normal…" AJ repeated before the door opened to reveal a shirtless Tyson Kidd.

"You know, normally, I would say something, but just this once, it's good to see you." Natalya kissed Tyson as Kaitlyn and AJ ducked into the locker room around them, and then all of them were inside. "Alright, boys. Wish our little girls luck. It's just going to be the three of us at ringside tonight."

"You don't want us to come?" Cody asked as he laced up his boots. He had a match after the Diva's match that night. "I was sort of looking forward to it."

"We can go out another time," Kaitlyn said, kissing him on the cheek. "I promise."

Cody and Kaitlyn were immersed in each other immediately, and the other men in the locker room just ignored AJ and Natalya as they spoke with Tyson Kidd.

"So, where's Primo?" Natalya asked after a few minutes of conversation. "I was sort of thinking he and AJ could talk a bit before the match."

"He told me to tell her good luck, but that he had to go clear something up with his cousin really fast." Tyson shrugged, and looked at AJ. "Sorry to leave you alone. Being an odd person out sucks, I know."

"Whatever," Natalya laughed, hugging him tightly. "You don't know what that's like. I know what that's like, you and David talking all the time without me having a clue what you're talking about."

"It isn't that this conversation isn't sweet, but I really think we should be going. Our match is coming up pretty soon." Natalya nodded and began saying her goodbyes to Tyson as AJ walked up to Cody and Kaitlyn, putting her hand between their faces and interrupting their conversation. "I love you, Kait, and I hate to be a cock block, but can you not? We've gotta do some serious work here."

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes and then leaned over to kiss Cody once and stand up. "I'll text you later, Cody. Let's go, AJ."

* * *

The girls stood in the Gorilla for a good five minutes before they were given the signal that it was their turn to enter, and Natalya nodded.

Guitar music began to play and then was quickly joined by the drums as out skipped AJ, followed by Kaitlyn and Natalya.

_I look up to see my name in lights…_

AJ's TitanTron was playing in the background as AJ fist-bumped Kaitlyn and they continued walking down to the ring, smiles on their faces. They got into the ring and waited for their opponents to enter, as well.

_I told you, I told you, I told you baby._

The DEAR TitanTron played as out walked Trish Stratus and Maria. AJ and Kaitlyn leaned up against the ropes and dared them to come down to the ring while they stood up there, dressed casually.

Natalya motioned for the girls to step back as Trish called for the music to fade out and put the mic she'd brought out with her to her lips. "Sorry, girls. There's been a bit of a change in tonight's plans. Maria and I won't be facing your toddlers, Natalya. You can tell them sorry for us. Instead, here's your opponents."

_I ain't the lady to mess with!_

_I told you, I told you, I told you baby._

"What the hell?!" AJ shouted in the ring, climbing up to the bottom rope as out walked Victoria and Candice Michelle, Maria following behind them in a pair of black boots with skinny jeans tucked into them and a black t-shirt on top.

AJ felt like her heart was going to explode with both excitement, anger and fear at the same time as into the ring came Victoria and Candice Michelle, and Kaitlyn pulled her back into their corner. Victoria ducked out of the match first, as did AJ, leaving Kaitlyn alone in the ring with Candice Michelle as the bell rang for the match to begin.

Kaitlyn threw herself forward and grabbed Candice, using the grip she quickly got on her to throw her to the floor. Candice got up quickly and Kaitlyn picked her up, throwing her over her shoulder and then slamming her down to the ground. Kaitlyn tagged in AJ as Candice started to get to her feet again, and AJ climbed to the top rope.

With the help of Kaitlyn, AJ hit Candice with a cross body that had a lot of momentum behind it, and Candice fell to the mat. Candice threw AJ off at one, and then started to wail on the small girl, throwing punches until the referee told her to get off or he'd disqualify them.

"Get her, Candice!"

"Go, AJ!"

The conflicting shouts surrounded Candice Michelle and AJ as they continued to fight until AJ was splayed out across the mat near Candice's corner, and she tagged in Victoria.

Victoria attacked AJ relentlessly, hitting her with clotheslines that sent her flailing and kicks that left her writhing in pain.

"Come on, AJ, can't you get up?! I thought you were dynamite!" Victoria shouted as she kicked AJ once again and then picked her up so that they were back-to-shoulders. The Widow's Peak was brutal, but Kaitlyn ran in to break up the pin.

While the referee rid the ring of Kaitlyn, Maria slid up and inside, hitting AJ with a big boot to the jaw with her heeled boots and leaving her on the ground. Maria got back out quickly, rolling under the bottom rope as Victoria went for another pin.

The three-count was certain now, as Kaitlyn was busy with Candice on the other side of the ring, and Natalya was trying to get Candice off of Kaitlyn.

Candice finally let go of her and slid into the ring to have her hand held up by the referee as Maria got in from the other side.

AJ moved to get out with the help of Kaitlyn, and it was like seeing red for the girls, because all of a sudden, all three of them were on the Chickbusters, attacking them viciously and going to take them out.

"Oh, no you don't!" Natalya shouted, running up the steel steps though she was wearing a dress and getting into the ring to grab Maria by the hair, shoving her out of the ring. Kaitlyn mostly had Candice under control, but Natalya took her by the hair anyway, picking her up and throwing her out and onto Maria, both of them toppling down.

Kaitlyn and Natalya then turned their attention to Victoria. Natalya hit her with a clothesline after she had picked her up, and when Victoria got back up to her knees, still practically fresh post-match, AJ stood up and ran at her, hitting her with an enzuigiri and sending her onto the floor. Kaitlyn picked her up and threw her out of the ring then as well as the crowd went wild.

It was the first time, but certainly not the last time, Natalya thought, that DEAR would be beaten by the other Divas.

* * *

_Surprisingly, the Chickbusters pulled a fast one of their own back on the girls of DEAR... after the match, that is. I hope you guys enjoy. One more chapter today, but I think four would just be spoiling you beautiful people._

_Review/favorite/follow if you enjoy-or if you don't enjoy. Constructive criticism is awesome._


	11. Chapter 11

This chapter is kind of hella long. I would've split it up, but it's a lot of important stuff that needs to be given to y'all at once. I'm sorry about that, guys. Bear with me here.

* * *

CHAPTER ELEVEN

* * *

The Diva's locker room backstage after the match and the post-match attack was filled with rage. This rage mostly belonged to Kaitlyn, though Natalya had been the one to schedule the match, as she had wanted to fight Trish personally.

AJ, however, was more trying to recover from the slaughter she'd taken in the ring at the hands of Victoria and Candice Michelle.

Kelly Kelly, Rosa Mendes, and Aksana sat in the locker room with them, as well as Zack Ryder and CM Punk. Goldust hadn't been around much, as Aksana hadn't seen any action with the girls of DEAR, and no one feared that she would be too hurt. The two of them continued to see each other regularly out of the arenas, but didn't spend too much time together when they were there.

A knock on the door startled them in the middle of Natalya trying to figure out how injured AJ really was, and they all looked to the door. AJ cleared her throat, and then shouted, "Come in!"

Everyone was confused as they watched a black Mary-Jane high heel clear the crack in the door first, followed by a deeply tanned leg in a pair of skin-colored tights, and then the bottom of a black skirt. The next thing through the door was the bottom of a white, button-up blouse, tucked into the skirt, and the last thing was a face that all of them had been missing terribly. Now, this face was wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses, and a smile on her red lips.

"Did anyone miss me?"

"Eve!" Kelly jumped up from her place next to Aksana on the bench, practically exploding with happiness as she ran across the room. She jumped up onto Eve, pretty much disregarding that Eve was coming back from an injury, and Aksana followed, as though she and Eve had never been close, Aksana had been becoming closer-sort of-with Kelly.

Eve smiled at her friend and laughed as she looked over the room. "Kelly… Natalya… everyone. I missed all of you so much."

"And we missed you," Rosa said, laughing. "Dearly."

"Well, you won't have to miss me much longer." Kelly put her hands together like she was praying, and Eve waved her hand in Kelly's direction. "Calm down, girl. I've only been cleared to return to the backstage area. They told me that I can't wrestle. So…" she shrugged sadly. "I don't know. Can I get some hugs to make me feel better?"

Everyone swarmed around her then, all of them laughing, smiling, and having what was generally just a good time, until Eve's eyes met Kaitlyn's across the room. The Diva with the dual-colored hair had stayed away from the Eve happiness, and it was obvious even to someone who hadn't been around to listen to her rant about it that she was angry about the bait-and-switch Trish and the other girls had pulled on her.

"Kaitlyn, I saw what happened out there, and as the new executive assistant to Theodore Long himself…" she trailed off for a second to squeal a bit and high-five Kelly, before going on. "I got him to sign off just a few minutes ago on a match for you, AJ, and Natalya against Victoria, Candice Michelle, and Maria at Over The Limit. Sort of a rematch for tonight."

Kaitlyn looked wary of this idea at first. "You really just got him to sign off on it? If you've been here all night, why didn't you come see us sooner?"

"I wanted to keep my surprise for as long as I could. I knew that all of you were missing me, but I didn't want to return just randomly and give all of you hugs. I wanted to come back, hug all of you, and talk to everyone." Eve crossed her arms over her chest and kept her eyes locked with Kaitlyn's. "If you'd like, I can go tell Teddy to shred that contract."

"No!" Kaitlyn held out a hand. "Don't do that. I have to get revenge on them for what they did. What they did wasn't fair."

"Do you really think you could have faced Trish and Maria?" AJ asked Kaitlyn, rubbing the back of her neck. "I mean, especially with me? I practically got slaughtered out there. Imagine if that had been Trish instead."

Eve decided not to get involved too much with this situation and laughed, turning around and walking in the direction of the door. "I'm sorry about this, but I've got to head out of here. I have more stuff to get done through the night. I'll see all of you later. I love you!" She blew a kiss to them as she shut the door behind her, Natalya giving AJ and Kaitlyn high-fives.

* * *

Saturday afternoon, everyone had been going on publicity shoots and doing interviews, but now they were headed to Seattle, Washington, for Over The Limit the next day.

Gail Kim leaned against one of the walls in the airport, her bags leaning up against the wall next to her and her hood pulled up over her head. She'd been fighting a cold and just generally felt like crap, she'd told the other girls, so they decided to leave her alone.

This, however, had apparently not gotten back to Justin Gabriel, who was now walking up to the girl he was supposed to be guarding, pulling his own luggage behind him. He wore jeans and a plain t-shirt for the plane ride, with a pair of sneakers. Headphones fell from the collar of his shirt, and were connected to the iPod in his pocket.

"Hi, Justin…" Gail stood up a bit straighter and smiled at him slightly. "What are you doing?"

Justin smiled at her and laughed. "What are you doing all the way over here, Gail? I thought you'd be over with the girls, helping AJ and Kaitlyn get over their nerves for tomorrow."

"Oh, I thought everyone had that covered. Besides, I've felt awful for days." Gail coughed, adding emphasis on this, but Justin didn't seem to move. "Do you want to get sick?"

"No, I want to help you get better." Justin opened his arms for Gail, who stepped into them without question to hug him tightly. "Is there something more than just being sick that you want to talk about? You can always talk to me, Gail. I care about you. A lot."

Gail smiled into his shirt and hugged him just a bit tighter for a second before meeting his eyes. "Justin, you're sweet, but it's really that I just don't feel well. I'm feeling better, though. Not sure if that's the Tylenol or my natural drug."

Justin laughed, and the two of them just kept their eyes locked for a moment, before Justin leaned down a bit, his lips meeting Gail's right there in the airport.

"Isn't that cute?"

Justin pulled back and watched with a bit of anger in his eyes as DEAR walked by them, laughing as they went. "What are they doing here?" He seethed after they had passed, and Gail placed her hand on his side, her arm around his waist.

"They're probably just boarding their private jet." Gail shrugged. "They think they're superstars, you know that. And not even the good kind, like you."

"I really care about you, Gail Kim."

"I care about you, too, Justin Gabriel."

* * *

Everyone boarded the plane a while later, and Kelly sat down, instantly pulling her small makeup bag from her carry-on. CM Punk laughed as she dug through it a bit, pulling out a small moisturizer and beginning to apply it.

"What are you doing?"

His laughter didn't seem to deter her as she applied this all over her face, and to his left, Randy Orton laughed a bit as well. "I'm keeping my skin hydrated. Your skin needs forty percent humidity to be completely healthy, and airplanes only contain eight percent. Therefore, you need to hydrate during flights." She looked over at him, and he noticed she'd massaged all of the previously whiter-colored gel into her face. "Do you want my skin to be flaky and disgusting?"

He rolled his eyes and laughed, putting his headphones on. "Whatever you say, Kelly. I won't judge you." She nudged him with her elbow and he laughed, leaning over to give her a kiss before putting his head back, turning on his music, and going to sleep.

* * *

The next day, sometime around eleven o'clock in the morning, Eve Torres stood in the general manager's office that Teddy Long had been assigned to occupy. She had a checklist of items that she was supposed to be getting accomplished, and she smiled before turning around.

"I understand. I'll be back soon, and I'll make sure that all of this gets done." Most of her duties, even as an executive assistant, only included waiting on the Superstars and Divas. This was more along the lines of getting a certain number of water bottles chilled for them and then making sure she delivered these while they were inside, and keeping track of the snack table.

Today, she was going to be getting water bottles for everyone on the roster, and had to make sure that the snack table included healthy options as well as things such as coffee creamers and sugars, and assorted sugary things which would fend off the appetite post-match.

"Eve!"

Eve literally dropped her clipboard, the transparent hot-pink plastic falling to the ground with a clatter as she stopped. She spun around after picking it up, to see Randy Orton approaching her, a smile on his face. "Hi, Randy."

"Hey, Eve. I wasn't sure if I would catch you here, but I just heard that you got back. Kelly was talking about it on the plane yesterday, and I wanted to come see you."

"That's sweet, Randy, really, but I've got things I need to get done." Eve turned back around and was in the direction of the snack tables in Catering once again. The fact that she had things to do didn't deter Randy, and he followed on her heels, still speaking, as she walked through the hallways.

"Listen, I just missed you, and I realized that I wasn't doing my job. I let you get severely hurt, and that's my fault. I take credit for that." Randy grabbed her by the arm and stopped her, turning her around. "Eve, please let me make it up to you."

"How would you want me to do that?" She crossed her arms over her clipboard, securing it against her chest, and looked up through her glasses at Randy. "What would you like me to let you do so that you can give me this apology."

"Let me take you out on a lunch date. Today, before the show starts."

"Ha!" Eve rolled her eyes and turned back around. "I should have known. It figures. But, Randy, I've got things I have to accomplish. I'm going to be busy all day, and I'm just not interested. Please, let me do my job."

She was a mix of happy and upset when she heard his footsteps cease behind her.

* * *

"It's almost pathetic how excited I am to get out there and just kick some DEAR ass," Natalya commented as she opened the car door and stepped out. The fans waiting behind the chain-link fence, watching the parking lot and taking pictures, cheered when they saw Natalya and Tyson getting out of their rental car, and both of them waved before walking around to the back.

"It isn't pathetic, Nat." Tyson unlocked the trunk with the car's key and opened it up to pull out her luggage bag. "I promise, nothing you do is."

Natalya took the keys from him as he took both of their luggage bags and locked the car after slamming the trunk shut. "You're sweet to me."

"I try."

They made vague conversation as they walked into the arena and made their way through all of the hallways to the Diva's locker room for the night.

"I'll see you after the match, alright?"

"Promise me you won't get hurt. I don't know what I'd do."

Natalya smiled at Tyson and kissed him softly before taking her bag from him. "I promise that I won't get hurt in the match."

Tyson watched her walk into the locker room and then headed off to find some of the other guards, while Natalya walked inside and smiled at the girls around her.

AJ was visibly excited at the idea that she was going to be in a match like this, as was Kaitlyn, while Gail Kim, Kelly, and Alicia just sat on the benches for moral support. "Natalya! You made it!"

"That's me, I did." She laughed, leaning her bag up against one of the benches. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom and then I'll change." She smiled and walked into the bathroom, all of the other girls staying behind. The door shut, and they continued talking as they heard the toilet flush a moment later, and then the sink start a few times.

Finally, the air dryer started, and when it stopped, they looked to the door to ask Natalya about Kaitlyn's hair style to see her opinion on it…

Only to see Natalya stumble backward out of the bathroom, dizzy, before falling to the floor, a deep cut across her forehead.

AJ and Kaitlyn lunged for Natalya as Gail and the other girls sat back in shock. "Nattie!"

AJ was crying, shaking her to get a response from the practically-unconscious woman, when out of the bathroom walked Ashley, Mickie, and Lita, Lita swinging a Singapore cane around.

"Huh. It looks like someone had a little bit of an accident," Lita commented with a laugh as they walked out of the locker room and into the hallway.

"How the hell did they get in here?!" Gail demanded. No one said a word.

* * *

_You see why it all had to be together now? Individual events that seem small can sometimes add up to be bigger than themselves. Do you guys think that Natalya's going to be okay? How do you think that DEAR got into the Diva's Locker Room? What do you think will happen to the match at Over The Limit, who will take Natalya's place?_

_Review/favorite/follow, and as always, you can message me if you have any questions about characters, or if you see something that doesn't seem fluent throughout the story. Multiple people can miss something that doesn't flow just right, and I want to make sure that this is as perfect as it can be for all of you well-deserving people. _


	12. Chapter 12

A lot of surprises go down in this chapter. Be prepared.

* * *

CHAPTER TWELVE

* * *

From the locker room, Natalya had to be put on a stretcher and taken to the medics. There, she was stitched up, and she was asked to describe what had happened. The only thing she could remember, she said, was being in the bathroom, and they'd come out of nowhere when she was drying her hands. After that, all she could remember was the stinging pain as she was held back by Mickie and Ashley while Lita beat her with the cane, and then the hit of her head against the concrete when she fell back into the locker room.

"Well," the taller medic said, sighing as he observed her stitches for a moment. "I can't let you go out there. Not in this condition. It's not safe for you, and if they hit you, your cut could reopen at any moment. You're just lucky you didn't have to go to the hospital."

Natalya's eyes began to fill up with tears immediately, and Tyson wrapped his arms around her from where he had been standing behind her. "It's okay, Nattie…" he muttered, kissing the top of her aching head softly.

"What about the match? That's all I care about, is that match. Just let me go out there anyway, let me fight the bitches who hurt me."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You'll need to either find a replacement, and fast, or you need to have the match called off." He shrugged and then motioned to the door. "You all can make your decision. I have to go inform Teddy Long."

The second the door had shut behind him, Natalya motioned at it. "Who does he think he is?! Call it off? We can't call it off! DEAR will never take us seriously if we do that, and they won't accept another rematch."

"Nattie… you have to step off the match. The doctor knows best, and trust me, you'll find another replacement." Gail was quiet for a moment, before looking around the room. "I, uh… I can be your replacement." She shrugged her shoulders as Justin looked over at her. "It wouldn't be a problem for me to just jump in there, and I haven't faced DEAR yet. I think we could do it. What do you guys think?"

"I don't know…" AJ looked at Natalya, biting her bottom lip as she waited for the official decision to be made.

Natalya looked at AJ, and then to Kaitlyn, but finally let her eyes lock on Gail Kim's. She nodded once again. "Yeah… okay. Gail Kim will be my replacement. Someone tell the medic."

* * *

About halfway through Over The Limit, the match was set to begin, and the Chickbusters stood backstage, waiting for their time. Gail Kim watched from a few feet away as they both stretched, AJ even going so far as to touch up the lipstick that she'd had put on her at hair and makeup. Gail couldn't help but laugh at this, because it was just so funny to her for whatever reason.

Then, she realized she should be stretching as well, and did just that.

They continued to stretch until they were given the signal by a passing techie that it was their match starting, and they all turned to stand at the stairs. AJ and Kaitlyn stood on the top and second stair, respectively, and Gail stood with one foot on the third stair and one on the floor, looking back out throughout the Gorilla zone.

It was practically, empty, everyone seemed to be in a locker room or near a TV to watch this match. Gail smiled, knowing that they would get their time's worth out of it.

_I look up and see my name in lights…_

AJ's theme music began and the three of them ran out, doing their own signatures at the stage before walking down the ramp to the ring.

"Introducing first, Gail Kim, Kaitlyn, and AJ!" Lillian smiled as she announced the three of them, and it was almost convincing enough to them that she wanted them to win… except that it was pretty sure everyone was voting for DEAR to win the match.

They got into the ring and smiled out at the audience for a moment, before retreating to the corner near commentary but away from the timekeeper to wait for DEAR to enter.

_I told you, I told you, I told you, baby…_

The crowd began cheering and booing, the cheers overpowering the boos as out walked the three members of DEAR who would be fighting Gail and the Chickbusters. Victoria, Candice Michelle, and Maria, who didn't seem to care that they were being cheered for, or even about the match. Instead, they walked down the ramp at their own pace, like they didn't care at all, and laughed the whole way down.

"Bring it!" Kaitlyn shouted as they got into the ring, and Candice actually threw her head back with laughter. "What?!" She shouted again, Gail Kim and AJ having to hold her back as Candice stuck her thumb in her mouth.

Maria laughed, "Where's Mommy Day Care?" before their theme music faded out, and they turned to each other, deciding who would be starting the match off.

"I've got this," Kaitlyn said, remaining in the ring, but crouching down in what was now their corner as the DEAR girls debated it.

Candice Michelle decided that she would start off the match against Kaitlyn, and stepped forward to take the challenge of fighting who was thought to be the strongest in the group.

This was quickly proven false with the help of Candice Michelle, who had no problem tearing this rumor to pieces. She quickly grabbed Kaitlyn and threw her to the ground, kicking at her and punching her relentlessly until they were threatened with disqualification.

From there, she threw Kaitlyn into the corner and ran to her, hitting her with a corner clothesline and then digging the bottom of her ring boot into Kaitlyn's chest. AJ screamed for Kaitlyn to come tag her in, and Candice looked up at the girl, stepping closer.

AJ quieted quickly, and though Candice appeared to be watching AJ, she could feel Kaitlyn get to her feet. When Kaitlyn ran up behind Candice, she ducked suddenly, leaving Kaitlyn to knock AJ off of the apron herself. Candice rolled her eyes and scoffed, going into the center of the ring and watching as an angry AJ got back up onto the apron and held out her hand.

"Tag me in!" she screamed. Kaitlyn did just that, and the little stick of dynamite, the "lightning" of "thunder and lightning" came running toward her. Candice, though she attempted to reverse the move, was quickly sucked into AJ's Black Widow submission maneuver.

Natalya ran down to ringside at this point, to the surprise of everyone in the ring, and earned the commentator's attention for a moment while Candice thought in the ring.

Candice didn't back down from the challenge of escaping, and managed to stand up straight, falling back and causing AJ to lose her grip. Candice stood up faster than AJ could, and kicked her in the side quickly, throwing the smaller girl onto her stomach.

Candice stepped up onto AJ and then back down off of her, and kicked her back over, onto her back once again.

For the first time in a long time, Candice signaled for something the crowd hadn't seen since before Candice injured her clavicle-that Candice could remember, anyway. The Go-Daddy elbow.

Just before Candice could hit AJ, however, the little girl moved, and they both struggled for their corners, AJ in pain and Candice favoring her elbow.

AJ got to her knees as Candice dove into her corner, attempting a diving tag from her own. Just as she was about to hit Kaitlyn's hand, inches away, Gail shoved Kaitlyn off of the apron and into Natalya. This left AJ on her own in the ring when Gail jumped down from the apron as well, Victoria picking up the small girl and putting her in position for the Widow's Peak. This hit AJ hard and left her practically lifeless in the center of the ring, giving DEAR the three-count victory as Gail hit Kaitlyn with an Eat Defeat and dove onto Natalya to attack the already-injured woman.

Natalya screamed at Gail as they attacked each other viciously, and fought back valiantly until the members of DEAR came running around the ring and helped Gail to attack her former friend.

Finally, when the girls had finished their attack, the three competitors from DEAR walked to the end of the ramp, while Gail looked down at Kaitlyn and Natalya, two of her former friends who now lay at her mercy. From there, she looked up to meet AJ's eyes, which were filled with confusion, sadness, and what appeared to be fear.

Gail tilted her head at AJ, feigning sadness, before laughing and pointing to the DEAR girls, kicking both Kaitlyn and Natalya as she walked by to join them. Trish had grabbed a microphone on her way around to beat on Nattie, leaving it on the stairs and then grabbing it as they walked off.

Gail took this microphone when she reached the girls and looked into the ring, and to ringside, a smirk on her lips. "Everyone underestimated me. Never told me that I was going to go out and face DEAR. Maybe you should have, because I've been in on this since the night Michelle and Layla got taken out by the better Divas. The Divas with talent, who carried the Women's Championship with pride, not some butterfly belt-one that I never held, because the WWE thought that I wasn't good enough for it." She laughed bitterly, before sticking her bottom lip out at AJ. "Poor you, thought that I was going to help you. Thought I'd save you. Please." She looked to her left, and then to her right, where her true friends stood by her side. "I don't need to be saving children. Not when I could be a real woman, and fight them instead." She dropped the microphone and turned around as AJ dragged herself out of the ring to try to help Natalya.

_I told you, I told you, I told you, baby…_

* * *

_What do you all think of Gail Kim's betrayal? Did anyone see it coming? Keep on reviewing/favorite-ing/following for more The Return Remixed. I love all y'all. Thanks so much._


	13. Chapter 13

Thoughts on the last chapter, anybody? Well, this chapter's not quite as dramatic. It deals with a little of the aftermath of Gail's decisions.

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

* * *

Backstage after Gail Kim's betrayal, many of the girls had almost become silent after the unexpected turn of Gail Kim, and opted to sit in silence, watching what was happening in front of them unfold wordlessly.

Natalya was definitely the most vocal about her explosive anger in the locker room… but was definitely not afraid to show it, as she picked up the small trash can that had been put in the locker room, emptied it, and threw it across the room with a scream.

"I can't believe… damn it, I just can't believe that she would do what she did to us like that!" Natalya took off her heels and threw them at the ground, where her purse was sitting, as she stormed to the center of the room. Kaitlyn leaned down to pick up what Natalya had dropped from her purse in this process, but Natalya waved her away before screaming again. "I don't know what to do! I just don't know what to do, or what to say! How could she do that?! I trusted her!" her eyes were burning with tears.

"Natalya, you can stop now. Don't worry about it." Eve had come in during Natalya's speech, and she smiled now at them, sadly. They all took a moment to remember that Eve and Natalya had once been the fearsome threesome, not Kelly, Alicia, and Eve. "I have something for you, but you need to stop this screaming and throwing and yelling, and you need to save your energy for Tuesday night." Her head tilted slightly in a smile as she held out a piece of paper for Natalya to read. Explaining to the others, Eve commented, "I have a contract here for Natalya and Gail Kim to fight, signed by Teddy Long, on Friday Night SmackDown."

Natalya handed the paper back, smiling almost evilly, as she grabbed her heels and everything from the ground. "I think I'm going to go plan on everything I'm going to do to Gail."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the men's locker room, Justin Gabriel sat on a bench, completely silent, his face in his hands as everyone avoided him. Tyson had left with Natalya before Justin had a chance to talk to him about it, and now Justin considered himself alone.

That was, until John Cena walked up and put his hand on Justin's shoulder.

"I haven't been saying much…" Justin said, looking up and meeting John's eyes, John nodding and sitting next to Justin to listen. "I'm kicking myself inside, so hard… I want to lay down and just let myself go… but then she wins. Just this afternoon, in the hotel before we came here, and before she left the locker room to go to the Gorilla with AJ and Kaitlyn, she came by… she kissed me, and she told me she'd come back later."

"Justin, don't be too hard on yourself."

"Gail Kim was everything to me, and she seems to completely have forgotten that I have feelings! Right after she did what she did to the girls, I tried to call her, and when she walked back here with the girls from DEAR, and I was waiting at Gorilla for her, she walked past me. Didn't spare me a glance, she pretended that I didn't even exist!" Tears had been building in his eyes, and one fell now. "I loved her, John, and I still do… but she doesn't give a damn about me, and I'm sure she never did. That hurts. I'm sorry, I can't be here."

Justin stood then, and Cena grabbed him by his wrist to stop him as he stood up, too. "Justin, you can stop now." He turned to look at John then, and John let out a sigh. "She didn't just fool you. She fooled me, and Eve, and Natalya, and the Chickbusters. She fooled everyone, not just you."

* * *

In the DEAR hotel suite, on the highest floor of their hotel, Lita and Trish sat on the couch in the living room, with the girls sitting or standing around them. They had been quiet for a moment, but Lita couldn't help but laugh.

"Did you see the look on AJ's face when you shoved Kaitlyn and jumped off?"

"It was priceless, absolutely priceless." Ashley commented, laughing as Victoria, Candice Michelle, and Maria tried to mimic it to the best of their abilities.

Gail Kim leaned against the wall next to the TV, across the room from Lita and Trish, and smirked. "It was a pretty clever idea, but it wasn't mine."

Lita laughed and bowed slightly in her seat, before smiling at Gail. "You're the one who smuggled us into the bathroom."

"But the cane was just the icing on the cake."

"I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to tomorrow night." Gail smirked. "I want to see how the little girls react."

"Trust me," Mickie spun around on the coffee table's smooth surface in her pajama pants. "They're all going to piss their pants when they see you. Plus, I think you've successfully turned them around and against each other, wondering if anyone else is gonna turn on them, too. Good job."

* * *

The next night, everyone was still in shock, all of them actually talking now that Natalya wasn't there to scream and shout about Gail's betrayal.

"I just don't know what to feel," Kelly sighed. "I mean, I thought she was on our side, and then she turns around and does that."

"I know, Kelly…" Alicia put her arm around her best friend. "I think we all feel the same way…"

There was a knock on the door, then, and Kelly looked up at it.

"Guys, it's me. John." They almost smiled at this comment-it was familiar from when they had begun the bodyguard plan. "I've got someone I think you might want to see.

After a moment's hesitation, she shouted, "Come in!"

John opened the door and walked in, a short-haired friend walking in behind them.

"Edge?!"

Kelly stood up and half-walked and half-ran to him in the small room. Then, she was throwing her arms around him to hug him, this show of affection stunning CM Punk, who was standing a few feet away, and making him feel overwhelmingly awkward as these two quasi-exes smiled at each other and hugged tightly.

Kelly smiled up at Edge when she pulled away from him, bouncing on her toes with excitement. "Hey, what the heck are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know. I was actually just telling Christian about this actually-I came back for a visit, to check up on everybody, and I have a very good surprise for everyone later in the night." Edge smiled as CM Punk met his eyes, but then read the face that he was receiving from Punk and changed his attitude a bit, stepping away from Kelly. "Hey, it's nice to see you, Kelly, and it's nice to see all of you. However, I'm trying to make my rounds and see everyone before I have to go make my announcements. I'll take some hugs now, but I've gotta run."

John watched over Edge as he did this, and when he was finished, John motioned for Edge to come with him, which he did. The two of them walked out of the room together, making small talk as they did so.

"It's nice to see him here again." Punk's words were sarcastic, but he expected the response he got, almost.

"Definitely," Kelly laughed.

CM Punk looked down at Kelly and scoffed a bit, before putting his arms around her. "Well, if seeing him makes you happy…"

* * *

Brie and Nikki Bella stood in the center of the ring later that night, Nikki behind Brie and rubbing her sister's shoulders for a moment, then hugging around them, as they waited for their opponents. They'd been put into a match against two members of DEAR for that night, but hadn't been told who they were going to be facing. This left them without any real game plan for what they were going to do and how they were going to fight.

The DEAR theme song began to play after their own had faded out, and the girls watched the stage intently until out came Ashley and Lita, chatting up a storm and definitely making sure their strategy was foolproof. This left the twins in the ring with seconds to come up with a good enough plan that they could try to beat these girls. The only thing that was decided, however, was that if it became necessary for them to do it, the girls would pull out their Twin Magic, and there wouldn't be any sort of problem.

Lita and Ashley jumped up onto the apron directly from ringside and climbed in, their eyes stuck on the twins until Ashley nudged Lita and pointed out which twin was which. Then, and only then, did they look away from the girls.

"I'll start," Ashley commented as Brie climbed out of the ring. "Trust me, I've got this. Don't worry about them." Lita climbed out of the ring after Nikki did.

Ashley and Nikki watched each other like predator and prey while they waited for the timekeeper to ring the bell, and once it did, they began to circle around the ring and each other, before diving in for a lockup. Ashley didn't bother to put in effort, while Nikki pushed back against Ashley, leaving it rather even.

However, when Ashley put in some effort and leaned into the lockup, shoving Nikki backward, Nikki refused to break the hold and tied her hands up in the hair at the base of Ashley's neck, both of them falling to the ground.

Ashley quickly rolled off of Nikki and stood up effortlessly, Nikki rolling onto her stomach to begin getting up from the ground. Without letting Nikki have a second longer to recover, Ashley stepped back, and then ran forward to punt Nikki in the head, leaving her practically lifeless as she lay in the middle of the ring.

"Too easy!" Ashley shouted, her arms in the air as she showboated around the ring. The referee stopped her halfway around and warned her not to punt Nikki or Brie again, because he'd disqualify her. During this exchange, Brie attempted to slide into the ring and replace her sister, but Lita dove through the ropes and stood over Nikki, preventing Brie from getting anything done.

The referee turned around just in time to see Lita pushing Brie away from Twin Magic, and ordered both of them to move.

"Back to your corners!"

Brie almost growled at Lita as the two of them stepped back into their corners, Lita ducking back out and onto the apron while Ashley resumed her assault on the still-lifeless Nikki in the ring. Lita held out her hand for Ashley to tag her in a second later, one foot on the bottom rope to help her onto the top rope once Ashley did.

Ashley picked Nikki up and tucked her head under her arm as she tagged Lita into the match, taking her down in a textbook Twist of Fate, before moving out of the way and allowing Lita to hit Nikki with a moonsault.

Ashley and Lita took a moment to celebrate their easy win inside of the ring before rolling out of it, Brie finally getting into the ring to help up her sister. She fanned Nikki's face as she watched DEAR retreat, glaring at the two girls leaving.

* * *

_Opinions? Review/favorite/follow, and I'll keep on posting. Thank you all so much. I can't express how grateful I am for all of the reviews, follows, favorites, and reads that I get._


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